Audubon Prints

We are honored to house ‘Audubon’s Fifty Best: Oppenheimer Field Museum Edition’ by John James Audubon, stored in our climate-controlled vault.

📍Pick your favorite print(s) from this list, and contact us to view in person at the Library.

American Flamingo
Until about 1900, flocks of flamingos from the Bahamas regularly migrated to Florida Bay, in what is now Everglades National Park.

Snowy Heron
A beautiful, graceful small egret, very active in its feeding behavior in shallow waters. Known by its contrasting yellow feet, could be said to dance in the shallows on golden slippers.

Iceland, or Jer Falcon
This formidable predator, the largest falcon in the world, reigns over barren tundra and desolate coasts in the high Arctic.

Blue Jay
One of the loudest and most colorful birds of eastern back yards and woodlots, the Blue Jay is unmistakable. Blue Jays make a variety of musical sounds, and they can do a remarkable imitation of the scream of a Red-shouldered Hawk. Not always conspicuous, they slip furtively through the trees when tending their own nest or going to rob the nest of another bird.

Brown Pelican
An unmistakable bird of coastal waters. Groups of Brown Pelicans fly low over the waves in single file, flapping and gliding in unison. Their feeding behavior is spectacular, as they plunge headlong into the water in pursuit of fish.

Raven
Of the birds classified as perching birds or ‘songbirds,’ the Common Raven is the largest, the size of a hawk. An intelligent and remarkably adaptable bird, living as both a scavenger and a predator, it can survive in all seasons in surroundings as diverse as hot deserts and the High Arctic tundra.

Great Horned Owl
Found almost throughout North America and much of South America is this big owl. Aggressive and powerful in its hunting (sometimes known by nicknames such as ‘tiger owl’), the Great Horned Owl takes prey as varied as rabbits, hawks, snakes, and even skunks, and will even attack porcupines, often with fatal results for both prey and predator.

Bird of Washington
The emblem bird of the United States, majestic in its appearance. It is not always so majestic in habits: it often feeds on carrion, including dead fish washed up on shore, and it steals food from Ospreys and other smaller birds.

Ivory Billed Woodpecker
Described as the “Great chieftain of the woodpecker tribe,” Audubon noted its striking black-and-white plumage, ivory-colored bill, and prominent red crest in males. He also described its elegant flight as “graceful in the extreme,” with long, swooping glides.

Blue Crane, or Heron
Despite its different last name, the Little Blue Heron is probably a close relative of the Snowy Egret. It looks much like a Snowy when it is young, but molts to a dark slate-blue plumage as an adult. Generally wary and hard to approach.

Summer or Wood Duck
Beautiful and unique, this duck of woodland ponds and river swamps has no close relatives, except for the Mandarin Duck of eastern Asia.

Overview

Title: Audubon Prints
Subject: Art; Birds; Natural history; Ornithology; Printmaking
Description: The Oppenheimer Field Museum Edition of Audubon’s Fifty Best is the first facsimile edition to accurately replicate the quality of the original Audubon edition of Birds of America completed in the 1830’s. Each print states ‘Engraved, printed & colored by R. Havell 1834″ and “Drawn from nature by J. J. Audubon F.R.S.E.L.S.” Each print is made on 310gsm, acid-free, cotton, watercolor paper. Each print embossed by hand with the Oppenheimer Editions stamp and the official Field Museum stamp. The verso of each print is stamped, numbered and signed.
Creator: John James Audubon, 1785-1851; Oppenheimer Field Museum
Source: The Oppenheimer Field Museum Edition of Audubon’s Fifty Best from the Original Havell Engravings of John James Audubon’s Birds of America in the superb Collection of The Field Museum, Chicago.
Publisher: Oppenheimer Editions, L.L.C.
Date: 1999
Contributor: Ben Williams, Field Museum Librarian; R. Havell; The Field Museum, Chicago
Rights: © Oppenheimer Field Museum
Relation: Ornithological Biography, or, An Account of the Habits of the Birds of the United States of America, by John James Audubon, 1831
Format: Hard case on wooden stand; 5 clamshell cases containing individual prints. Double Elephant Folio prints, approximately 38 x 26 inches.; Limited edition of 150.
Language: English; Latin
Type: image
Identifier: 2019.AU.1-50
Coverage: North America; 1826-1838

Provenance

Unknown donor (on site early 2000s)

Audubon Deep Dive

The Double Elephant Folio | Audubon at Beineke

The birds that Audubon missed : discovery and desire in the American wilderness by Kenn Kaufman

John James Audubon : the making of an American by Richard Rhodes

What do we do about John James Audubon?

“I feel I am strange to all but the birds of America.”

John James Audubon

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