Audubon’s Birds of America
The American Museum of Natural History sought out Alecto Historical Editions of London to publish a new edition of six of Audubon’s Birds to commemorate his 200th bicentennial.
Audubon himself, though delighted with the superb quality of his original engravings, was vastly disappointed with the colouring of many of the prints.
Alecto has worked through 17 stages of hand printing (no photographic process involved) in colour from the original 19th Century plates on a copperplate rolling press, additional watercolour has added by hand. Owners of the recent edition (limited to 125 sets worldwide) need not share Audubon’s disquiet. As Sir David Attenborough (the well-known British naturalist) attests:
‘These new impressions of the 150-year-old plates could well be judged to be a finer representation of Audubon’s intentions than any produced in the artist’s lifetime’
