print room: John James Audubon
    octavo prints from The Quadrupeds of North America

Plate LVI.  American Bison or Buffalo.  Rare uncolored proof (edition unknown), circa 1850s-70s.  Untrimmed sheet (11 inches by 7-1/4 inches).  Browning and slight chipping on edges, small corner loss.  Stone lithograph with tint by J. T. Bowen.  SOLD

Please contact us for condition reports, photos and with any questions.  Original text included if available. If text is not available, upon request we will provide a photocopy from a reprint edition. Visit our ordering page to read about our guarantee, and for information on sales tax, shipping, and forms of payment.

Audubon octavo prints are hand-colored stone lithographs taken from one of the octavo-sized editions of Audubon's work.  These books are about the size of a modern hardcover novel, but the plates vary slightly in size from set to set. The octavo editions of The Quadrupeds of North America were produced by Audubon's sons, John Woodhouse Audubon (the artist responsible for about half the animal images in the series) and Victor Gifford Audubon (who provided many of the beautiful backgrounds).  Virtually all plates from all editions include a printed background (called a tint).  Usually beige or aqua, the tint usually includes an indication of clouds.  Other than this printed background, all prints are entirely hand-colored. (A few interesting exceptions, octavo quad prints without a tint, are described in our octavo quads study area.)  

Among our octavo Quadruped offerings is a rare item, a group of five prints still bound into a number (as the Audubons referred to the fascicles or parts that they issued to subscribers).  These are very hard to find because most numbers were either bound as part of sets (with wrappers or covers discarded) or disbound into individual prints.  We have No. 27 which includes five plates, the related text pages in the original beige wrappers or covers.  The plates are 131 Grizzly Bear, 132 Hare Indian Dog, 133 Texian Hare, 134 Yellow-bellied Marmot and 135 Richardson's Ground Squirrel.  Price is $2000.  Please contact us for more information. 

Unlike the octavo bird first edition prints, there is no way to identify edition with certainty once a print is separated from the volume in which it was bound.  Some dealers therefore offer octavo quadruped prints without naming the specific edition.  We are fortunate right now to be able to offer prints from a complete first edition set (1849-1851-1854).  We will provide Certificates of Authenticity for all prints from this set stating their status as first edition prints. Original text will be offered on a "first-sold" basis.  (For example, there are two buffalo prints and only one text, so the text will go with the first print sold.)  Upon request, we can provide a photocopy of text and/or a copy of the original title page from the appropriate volume. If you are interested in See our set of first edition prints.

If you are less concerned about edition, or would like some alternatives, we have available a selection of later edition prints and some first edition "singles."  See our later edition and "single" first edition prints.

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Last updated 03.31.09