Lot #33: Audubon and DeKay/Hill Hand-colored Bird Lithographs

Antique book-plate hand-colored lithographs, from two different artists: John James Audubon, 1785-1851, needs little introduction--his comprehensive studies of North American birds are iconic. Born in Haiti, Audubon was the illegitimate son of a sugar plantation owner and a chambermaid. Raised by his father in France, he immigrated to America as a teenager, using a false passport his father gave him, to avoid being drafted into the Napoleonic wars. His interest in nature combined with his rapidly developing skills as an artist, and his innovative means of staging birds he had shot so as to draw them most accurately. He traveled the country, observing birds, their habits, their surroundings, and began to create the watercolors that would eventually be collected in his monumental "Birds of America." Truly monumental--each of the 453 plates was double elephant folio-sized, or approximately 2' X 3', in order to show the birds at life size. He was obliged to raise the money himself for the publication of the 4-volume work over a period of years, which he did by selling subscriptions and paintings, to the tune of just over 2M in today's dollars. Publication progressed from 1827 to 1838; in 1839-44 he produced a smaller 7-volume octavo set of the plates, from which this plate comes. Indicated as original lithograph, this is plate 330 from the 2nd edition octavo of 1852 (possibly 1856, accounts vary), and shows a pair of Purple Sandpipers exploring a tide pool. Lithographed, printed, and colored by J.T. Bowen of Philadelphia. John Bowen was one of the premier lithographers of that period in America, and handled the printing of the octavo editions. Under a matte and in plastic slipcase. Excellent condition. A hand-colored lithograph from the 5-volume "Zoology of New York," published 1842-44. Author James Ellsworth DeKay, 1792-1851, was a naturalist, zoologist, and physician, who emigrated with his parents from Portugal as a very young child, and went on to study at Yale University and guide the development of the collection at the Lyceum of Natural History in New York. His close association with some of the writers of the era, including James Fenimore Cooper, likely influenced his style, called, in one biography, "scientific romanticism." In 1836 DeKay was selected for the task of cataloguing the flora and fauna of New York state. Volume II of the "Zoology," also referred to a Volume I, part II, was devoted to birds, which DeKay classified in six orders. He worked with artist John William Hill, 1812-1879, a painter, lithographer, and engraver. Hill was also an immigrant, from England, who apprenticed for seven years under his father, an aquatint engraver. Hill was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites, and employed techniques of fine detail in his topographical views, wildlife studies, and landscapes. His works today are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the National Gallery, the Amon Carter Museum, the Fogg Art Museum, etc. Here, plate 118 shows the Ruddy Duck and the Buffleheaded Duck. This plate, indicated from 1853, was likely removed from a copy of the "Zoology," which was published in quarto size, by Endicott and Company, lithographers. Excellent condition, matted, in plastic slipcases. See lot 57 for more DeKay/Hill lithos. Dimensions: 12.5" W X 9.5"H and 14"W X 11"H with matte Pickup category timeslot {C}