Product Description

A landmark volume collects the writings and drawings of America's greatest artist-naturalist

The breathtaking art of John James Audubon's Birds of America has been celebrated throughout the world since it first appeared over 150 years ago. Less well known is Audubon's literary legacy -- the magnificent volumes of natural history he published during his lifetime, as well as the remarkable journals, memoirs, and letters left behind at his death. Now, with The Library of America's unprecedented John James Audubon: Writings and Drawings, Audubon the great nature writer takes his rightful place alongside Audubon the artist.

Here is the most comprehensive selection of Audubon's writings ever published, along with a spectacular portfolio of his drawings. The "Mississippi River Journal," the foremost record of an American artist's progress, details Audubon's first wilderness bird hunts. Selections from his "1826 Journal" follow him to Europe, where his abilities were finally recognized. Audubon's masterwork, the five-volume Ornithological Biography, is here generously represented by 45 entries. Charming, haunting, and violent by turns, these vivid intimate portraits of the habits and habitats of America's birds, from the curious mating rituals of the Wild Turkey to the sublime spectacle of the migration of the now vanished Passenger Pigeon, changed American nature writing forever. The "Missouri River Journals" evoke the vanishing American Indian and the hardships of frontier life. An extensive selection of letters charting almost 20 years of Audubon's artistic development, along with two essays on artistic technique and a brief memoir, round out the volume. For the first time, all texts have been painstakingly prepared from original sources. General and ornithological indices will aid the reader in the field as well as in the study. Sixty-four full-color plates, and fascinating manuscript sketches, some never before published, offer a unique perspective on Audubon's art.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #186883 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 928 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781883011680
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
John James Audubon's indelible portraits of American birds have long since cemented his reputation as one of our truly magical realists. Yet the artist, who was born in Haiti in 1785 and died 66 years later on his 30-acre estate in upper Manhattan, was not only a sublime featherhead but a trailblazing nature writer and diarist. Doubters should take a gander at the Library of America's splendid Writings and Drawings. This new compendium features 64 full-color plates, most of them from the Ornithological Biography, which demonstrate the compositional and dramatic brilliance that Audubon brought to his work: seldom has the black vulture, or Coragyps atratus, looked so elegant or sleekly satisfied, and his colloquium of ruby-throated hummingbirds (a.k.a. Archilochus colubris) is an almost comical study in group dynamics. Yet it's the texts--journals, letters, diaries, a brief memoir, and a pair of essays on artistic technique--that are the true revelation here.

Audubon was not, for the record, a kind of starry-eyed precursor to the Sierra Club, leaving nature untouched by human hands. It's telling that in his self-portrait, the artist is gripping neither palette nor paintbrush but a flintlock rifle. Gunning down his ornithological subjects was a necessary prelude to portraying them. Still, Audubon had quite a few of what we moderns would call conflicted moments, during which his admiration for, say, the Mississippi kite would temporarily halt the killing spree. Here the sight of a mother attempting to rescue its chick manages to stay his itchy trigger finger--for a millisecond, anyway:

My feelings at that moment I cannot express. I wished I had not discovered the poor bird; for who could have witnessed, without emotion, so striking an example of that affection which none but a mother can feel; so daring an act, performed in the midst of smoke, in the presence of a dreaded and dangerous enemy. I followed, however, and brought both to the ground at one shot, so keen is the desire of possession!

The aesthetic and taxidermal impulses have torn apart many a naturalist since then (although, to be sure, the stricken diarist was later annoyed to discover that another animal had cut in on his action: "What was my mortification, when I found that some quadruped had devoured both!") Elsewhere, Audubon records the topography of the Mississippi Valley in vivid detail, or grumbles about the tight job market: "Visited several Public Institutions where I cannot say that I Was very politely received; in one or Two Notable ones (Not Willing to Mention Names) I was invitd to Walk in and then out in very quick order." Audubon's early-19-century orthography, which the editors have meticulously retained, may take some Getting Used To. And the sheer piling up of avian corpses can seem almost comical to a modern reader. Still, Audubon worshipped pretty thoroughly, and very productively, at the shrine of the natural world. And let's recall his verdict on Liverpool's industrial landscape, which he observed during a 1826 visit: "Naked streets look dull." If only there'd been a long-billed curlew on hand! --James Marcus

From Library Journal
Much of Audubon's other fine writings have been overshadowed by his venerable Birds of America. This volume, however, gives his journals, memoirs, and letters a chance to shine. The book also sports 45 gorgeous color sketches. Readers will undoubtedly find themselves wanting to do some nesting of their own with this marvelous work.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Audubon is the Theodore Dreiser of ornithologists, with a keen eye for the knavish behavior of blue jays and quirks of wild turkeys. In his day the interior of the continent was one great whirr of feathers, and his prose descriptions convey the wonder of the national aviary.... John James Audubon: Writings and Drawings is the perfect urban surrogate for a birdfeeder and the ideal accessory for any upscale bathroom, since it serves the same basic function as a book of cartoons, and will last years longer. As the holidays approach, it's something for all Santas to remember. -- Thomas M. Disch, WNYC

Once again, The Library of America brings us the writings ... of an American original.... And oh, what a word-slinging adventurer he was! Footloose, sometimes feckless, always acutely observant, he carried a large enthusiasm for the natural world as part and parcel of his baggage.... To our great good fortune, not only his fabulous renderings of birds and mammals survive but also a sizeable number of his writings. Audubon's word-work has been collected elsewhere and expensively, but this volume is the best value yet.... Best of all, the present volume includes some of Audubon's detailed verbal portraits--"Ornithological Biography," as he termed it3/4of the birds that he so lovingly drew; wisely, the book's editor has illustrated the book with the appropriate reproductions.... I am filled with a huge gratitude that The Library of America has chosen to include the writings of the man who proudly styled himself a "Citizen of the United States of America." -- Janet Lembke, The News and Observer, Raleigh, NC, 7 November 1999

This collection opens wonderful views onto the American landscape and affords brilliantly rendered descriptions of American wildlife... -- Christopher Camuto, in Audubon, February 2000

This impressive volume ... will provide hours of reading and looking pleasure for nature-lovers and amateur ornithologists. -- The Times-Picayune, 8 October 1999

This is the most comprehensive collection of Audubon's writings ever published.... -- Harvard Magazine, November-December 1999

This new, 900-page volume from the venerable Library of America collects some of Audubon's best writings.... Some of these pieces read like adventure stories as he describes his subjects' life in the wilderness as well as his own experience. Sixty-four color drawings ... are nicely reproduced, as are line drawings and a sample page from his manuscript. -- Bloomsbury Review, November/December 1999, Editors' Favorite Books of 1999

This wonderful book--just the right size, at 8 inches by 5--has 64 color plates of birds and quadrupeds, as well as Audubon's voluminous journals, essays, and "ornithological biographies." So familiar are his paintings that one might overlook what a gifted writer Audubon was, the equal of John Muir but less sentimental. -- The Boston Sunday Globe, 3 October 1999

We know Audubon as the eccentric artist who wandered America's hinterland cataloging the birds of the New World ... and produced the famous portfolios of bird portraits. He deserves to be known, however, as an accurate, articulate and even eloquent artist whose Ornithological Biography is one of the most lyrical and closely observed works in the genre of American nature writing and whose journals provide fascinating details about the hardships of frontier life in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, the vanishing culture of the American Indians and the customs and mores of his fellow Americans.... The handsome volume includes ... a thorough chronology of Audubon's life compiled by editor Christoph Irmscher. -- Memphis Commercial Appeal, 10 October 1999

While most birders are familiar with Audubon's paintings, which placed birds in lifelike poses set in natural habitats, it is his written words that offer a wonderfully descriptive window to his genius as an artist... -- The Plain Dealer, 24 October 1999

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Customer Reviews

A Masterpiece of Nature Writing
Anyone looking for a chronicle of the American wilderness in its infancy would do well to start here. There is great charm in the journals of 1820, where the spellings are still Audubon's own, and the flavor of the times -- especially regarding life on the frontier, and concerning everyday life in old New Orleans -- is everywhere. With his "Bird Biographies" of everyday varieties, as well as descriptions of now-extinct species, such as the Carolina Parakeet, and Ivory Billed Woodpeckers, this book is a treasure not just for nature lovers and bird aficianados, but for lovers of history as well.

Talent, Passion, Perseverance: A Portrait of the Artist
Considering the high regard in which Audubon is held today, the reader may be surprised to learn how hard he had to struggle to get there.
Having failed repeatedly in his business ventures, he decided to concentrate his efforts on his true talent: observing, drawing and describing the birds of America. The fact that Alexander Wilson, a self-taught naturalist like Audubon, had pursued the same goal before him and enjoyed the support of the influential Philadelphia establishment seems to have encouraged rather than deterred young Audubon. He was sure he could do better, and in his jottings he never misses an opportunity to point out mistakes and shortcomings in Wilson's work.

The Mississippi River Journal of 1820-21 is, to my mind, the most interesting part of this collection. Raw diary entries, unedited and uncorrected, give a vivid account of this expedition which started in Cincinnati on a "flat boat" and ended in New Orleans. It may come as a shock to the reader that Audubon and his companions shot and killed practically all the birds he drew and described, and often ate them afterwards. They also bought birds from other hunters or, when in a town, at local markets. All manner of birds were briskly traded as food or pets, or for ornamental purposes.
During this trip, Audubon was destitute most of the time and always eager to get a free meal from a generous host. Letters of recommendation introduced him to a number of worthies, and he often replenished his funds by drawing portraits or giving drawing lessons to the children of wealthy citizens. There was some interest in his ornithological work, but not enough to secure financial backing. Through all these disappointments and humiliations, he remained a keen observer - not only of birds and other wildlife, but also of the country and the people in it.

His fortune changed with his visit to England and Scotland. Excerpts from his 1826 Journal show his surprise and delight in being graciously received, and even lionized, by important people who arranged for him to show his work in public and enlist subscribers.
The 64 color plates included in this book are selected from watercolors, aquatint engravings and lithographs, and show the full range of Audubon's art; they include birds that were abundant at the time but are now extinct (or nearly so), such as the Passenger Pigeon, the Carolina Parakeet, and the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Forty-five entries from his "Ornithological Biography" give a fascinating account of the life and habits of American birds. To our modern sensibilities, his writing style seems a little effusive at times, and we might prefer to see our birds depicted in less dramatic poses; but there is no doubt about his enthusiasm, and he obviously captured the Zeitgeist.

The Missouri River expedition (1843) was designed to find new species of quadrupeds. This journal is more polished than the Mississippi Journal, but I find it less appealing. Somehow, A.'s true passion seems to have been birds, not quadrupeds.

Some personal letters, essays, autobiographical notes and descriptions of his technique round out the portrait of an artist who rose from obscure origins to the highest honors (member of illustrious societies, dinner with President Andrew Jackson at the White House), and whose name is still a household word in America today.

audubon's best single collection
to be read wholly as occasional readings and very enjoyable; allows one to imagine the bird life and other wildlife in America in the days of exploration and settlement, and how much of nature we have lost.