The quadrupeds of North America by John James Audubon, F.R.S., &c. &c. and the Rev. John Bachman, D.D., &c. &c.
THE OCTAVO QUADRUPEDS IN ORIGINAL PARTS
Thirty-one original parts. New York: Victor Gifford Audubon, 1849–1851–1854. First octavo edition.
Royal octavo in 4s (10 11/16” x 7 ¼”, 272mm x 184mm):
Vol. I: π4 1–24 34 4–314 324 33–484 [$1 signed; –3, 32]. 196 leaves, pp. i–v (title, copyright, half-title, introduction) vi–viii (3pp. introduction) 1 2–383 [1] (table of contents). With 50 hand-colored lithographed plates.
Vol. II: 1–104 114 12–164 174 18–194 204 21–424 [$1 signed; –11, 17, 20; 39 signed “19”]. 168 leaves, pp. 1 2–334 [2] (title-page, copyright). With 50 hand-colored lithographed plates.
Vol. III: 1–444 χ2 [$1 signed]. 178 leaves, pp. 1 2–348 [8] (half-title, blank, title, copyright, 3pp. table of contents, blank). With 55 hand-colored lithographed plates.
With 155 hand-colored lithographed plates in toto.
Stabbed and bound in the publisher’s printed wrappers in 31 parts. Housed in three groups (1-10, 11-20, and 21-31), each in a blue cloth chemise and presented in blue cloth slip cases. Title, author, and parts-per-case gilt to edge.
Wrappers and prospectus detached from numerous parts, chipping to their extremities throughout. Stab-and-stitch binding of Vol. I No. 1 and Vol. II No. 17 perished, leaves and plates sporadically detached throughout. Two horizontal tears to the front wrapper of Vol. III No. 31. Occasional dampstaining to the fore-edges and lower inner corners, not affecting the text. Loss to the lower fore-corner of “Rocky Mountain Hare” and to the lower fore-corner of 45. Split and crease to the lower edge of “Florida Rat.” “Chipping Squirrel, Hackee,” “Common American Shrew Mole,” “Columbian Black-Tailed Deer,” and “Common American Deer” lacking guards. Guard of “Ground Squirrel” torn in two. Plates in Vol. III No.1 bound with the image to the verso. Ink fingerprints to 49 verso.
At the age of 58, John James Audubon (1785–1851) — the consummate woodsman and naturalist — embarked on his first journey across the Rocky Mountains to the Great Plains, seeking mammals to illustrate for this ambitious project following his vast and expensive Birds of America (1827–1838, octavo edition 1840–1844). Audubon failed to obtain government funding for what he called his “Great Western Journey.” Undeterred and believing in the scientific value and commercial promise of The Quadrupeds, Audubon decided to finance the expedition himself. He sought collaboration with The Rev. John Bachman (1790–1874), a Lutheran Pastor who had studied quadrupeds from his youth and was recognized as an authority among naturalists in the United States. Bachman was not keen on the trip, and Audubon himself conceded the hardships that it would entail. In a letter to Charles Bonaparte in February of 1843, he wrote: “To render [the Quadrupeds] more complete, I will leave the comforts of my home and beloved family, bound to the Rocky Mountains… I cannot tell how long I may be absent, but look to return loaded up with knowledge, new and abundant specimens on the shot and not from stuffed museums’ moth-eaten remains. I am told that I am too old to undertake such a long and arduous journey, but I reply that having the will, I will no doubt safely bear or even surmount the difficulties.”
Audubon departed from St. Louis in April 1843, traveling up the Missouri River with a group that included trappers, gentleman naturalists, and several Native Americans who had come to the city for trade. En route, Audubon delighted in sharing his work. During one of his impromptu showcases, Edward Harris (a naturalist on the expedition), recounted that one onlooker fled shocked from Audubon’s plate of woodchucks, exclaiming they were surely alive. After traveling some thousand miles, the group arrived on the prairie, a haven of wildlife where elk, deer, bears, wolves, and vast herds of buffalo roamed free, ripe for observation. Upon returning home, however, Audubon’s health began to deteriorate, and he left the illustrations of smaller animals for his son, John Woodhouse Audubon, to complete.
Ultimately, just over half of the quadrupeds were illustrated by John James himself, with the remainder completed by John Woodhouse. The backgrounds were finished by his youngest son, Victor Gifford Audubon, who saw the book through the press. It took the Audubon family five years to finalize and publish all 150 plates for the folio edition (The Viviparous Quadrupeds… 1845–1848), which was later supplemented by 6 plates. As with the Birds, the large-format Viviparous Quadrupeds was limited in circulation because of the cost, with the result that the Audubons issued a royal octavo edition in the years following. This too was issued in parts, here preserved as issued, beginning in 1849, which contained all 150 of the original images plus 5 of the 6 supplemental, reduced by camera lucida (and in some cases altered to suit the smaller format).
Nissen, ZBI 163; Sabin 2368.
Catalogued by G.R. Murdock.
Item #GRM0032
Price: $25,000