the study: royal octavo edition The Birds of America, from Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories
The octavo edition of The Birds of America, first published in parts (called fascicles) from 1839-1844, popularized Audubon's art, making it accessible to many more people than did the folio version of the work. At $100 for the entire set, the octavo edition was within reach of well-to-do families, and could also be purchased (and then made available for study) by libraries and public collections. Read an article about the original fascicles.
The success of the series is apparent from the many reprints that were published between 1856 and 1871. There is evidence that the Audubon sons continued to collate and sell octavo sets (using both old and newly printed plates) in the period of time that elapsed between the first and the second editions. Our friend Tom Blanton acquired a set that included normal first edition title pages in all volumes except Volume V which was dated 1855 (one year before the Audubons issued the second edition). The entire set was uniformly bound in a publisher's binding. On some prints, printer and artist credits appeared in an italic font where block would normally be found in the first edition; on other prints, block lettering could be seen where the first edition would normally have italics. Otherwise, the prints were identical in appearance to first edition prints, and were devoid of the aqua or beige tint that is normally found in all later editions. Some sources estimate the total number of sets of the first edition at around 1250, which was the minimum number of each 1st edition fascicle printed up to No. 50. Beginning with No. 51 (printed in March 1842), the print run was reduced to 1150; by June 1842, the total was reduced again to 1050, which level was maintained for the remainder of the series (Parts 57 to 100). Analyzing these numbers, Audubon scholar Ron Tyler concluded that the total number of completed sets was probably between 1000 and 1050. The octavo edition proved a far more profitable venture than the Havell Edition. Subscription sales went so well that Audubon was able to purchase a parcel of farmland in an area north of New York City in 1841. Audubon deeded the property to his wife, Lucy, for whom the estate was also named; the family began living at Minnie's Land in the spring of 1842. In order to reduce the large images from the Havell Edition to a size that would fit the octavo format, the Audubons used a device known as the camera lucida, which employs a glass prism to project the image onto paper. John Woodhouse did the majority of the new drawings, although some were drawn (or perhaps redrawn) by artists employed by J. T. Bowen, the lithographer chosen for the project, and some were drawn by Audubon himself. Because of the smaller format, many of the octavo plates are simpler than their counterparts from the Havell Edition. The octavo edition included 500 plates compared to the Havell Edition's 435. Why the difference? First, the octavo plates portray a single species of bird on each plate while many of the later plates in the Havell Edition included multiple species (some representing duplicates or the young of birds depicted elsewhere). We do not know of any source that has completely analyzed and summarized all the changes between the Havell and octavo portrayals, but Nancy and Robert Braun's excellent An Audubon Concordance - Migration Through the Plate Numbers is essential for anyone interested in pursuing this analysis. Our own quick review, based primarily on the Brauns' material, leads us to believe that Audubon added plates for an additional 23 birds (most but not all discovered after the completion of the artwork for the folio edition). In addition, Audubon completely revised the presentation of at least one bird, known today as the Northern Bobwhite. Originally portrayed in Plate 76 Virginian Partridge, one of the most dramatic of the Havell Edition, the bobwhite was given a more static treatment in octavo Plate 289 Common American Partridge. The 23 additional plates include Plates 51, 101 103, 122, 185, 190 and 484-500 (see list for plate titles). According to Bannon and Clark, the last seventeen plates were painted by Audubon on his western journey up the Missouri in 1843. It would be difficult to summarize in a single web page the interesting history of this series and many details one could learn by combing through many sets of the octavo edition with different publication dates. This page attempts to give the reader a feeling for some of the complexities involved, but those interested in the octavo edition should read Ron Tyler's book, Audubon's Great National Work, from which much of the above information is derived.
Collecting Issues The collecting issue that seems to be of greatest concern to octavo collectors is identifying differences between first and later edition prints. We have prepared a summary of the major differences based on the work of Robert Braun and our own comparisons. We hope to update this page shortly to reflect new information (referred to above) on first edition variants that do not fit into Braun's scheme. We often hear collectors and dealers make distinctions based on quality. Many say that later edition prints are not as "well done" as their first edition counterparts. We have also read in various places that the color of the later edition octavo plates is printed with possibly some hand-coloring. We believe this misrepresents the true situation. The only printed color in the later editions is the background color which usually appears as a rectangle of beige or aqua color behind the birds, with or without a suggestion of clouds. In plates that include a landscape, particularly those of the shore birds, the tint generally appears as an oval of sky and clouds. Not being that experienced with octavos, we cannot comment about overall quality across editions, but a long-time dealer we know has told us that he has seen later edition sets, including a very fine Lockwood set, with excellent coloring. It may be that the typical quality of later editions is not as high as the typical quality of first editions, but individual sets of outstanding quality may perhaps be found in all editions. Even within a single edition, there will not be uniformity in terms of individual plates. The lithographic stones changed over time for many reasons, some changes slight, some changes more significant. Reworking and redrawing stones was necessitated due to wear and breakage during printing. Some images were enhanced over time by changes in background (e.g., Plate 1 Californian Turkey Vulture) or redrawn to change orientation (e.g., Plate 255 Belted Kingfisher). Many were redrawn with no obvious changes except a loss of detail (e.g., Plate 375 American Flamingo). Legends and other text were probably redone many times as necessary. Some text (e.g., the initials of the lithographic artist, often found on 1st edition plates) wore out over time and in some plates was never replaced. It seems fair to say that the further in time one gets from the first edition, the more the series was influenced by the opinions and preferences of people other than Audubon himself. Audubon preferred the italic artist's and printer's attributions used for all but a few plates beginning with Part 16 and continuing through the end of the series. Audubon's sons, for some reason, went back to using block letters for the attributions. There may have been a practical reason for this, or perhaps the sons wished to put their own imprint on the series. The inclusion of the tint beginning with the 1856 edition seems to be modeled on the printing techniques used for the octavo quadrupeds series, the practical details of which were probably worked out after the elder Audubon was incapacitated. Adding the tint to all the plates must have resulted in some expense; it could not have been done for economy. Perhaps Victor and John Woodhouse, in consultation with Bowen, decided the tint gave the bird plates a more finished look. There is too much variation within and across octavo editions to try to catalogue all states. Octavo fans will enjoy reading Audubon's Great National Work to get a flavor for some of the changes that Ron Tyler found. It can be an interesting exercise, to compare a first edition set to a later edition set, or to compare two or more sets of the same edition. We learned much about the octavos by going through books of octavo reproductions. We particularly like the Wellfleet book Audubon's Birds of North America (which we believe reproduces an 1870 Lockwood set). From this book we learned that some later edition plates include italic artist and printer attributions. We also noticed the existence of an interesting printer error that credits J. W. Audubon as the artist on at least three plates (Plate 16 Black-shouldered Elanus, Plate 280 White-headed Dove, and Plate 436 Arctic Tern). We have since heard of or personally seen earlier instances of this error, the earliest so far dating back to the fourth (1860) edition, co-published by V. G. Audubon and Roe Lockwood and Son. In terms of the various editions, it appears that members of the Audubon family controlled the work at least through the third (1859) edition. Beginning with the fourth edition (1860), Roe Lockwood & Sons is listed as co-publisher, first with V. G. Audubon (1860) and then with J. W. Audubon (1861 and 1865). It is unclear to what extent Victor was involved in the publication of the 1860 edition since he was incapacitated by a fall in 1858 and passed away in 1860. Inasmuch as John died in 1862, his 1865 publication credit is probably based more on courtesy or marketing strategy than on his specific contribution. The 1865 edition was the first to appear in eight volumes instead of seven. The remaining two known 8-volume editions, 1870 and a set with undated title pages that came out in 1871, were published by the successor firm to Roe Lockwood & Son, George R. Lockwood. The lithographic stones were destroyed in a fire in 1871, thus putting an end to publication. Some researchers and dealers have reported sets with a copyright date of 1889. According to email we received from Bill Steiner, close examination of one such set owned by two prominent dealers led them to conclude that the "89" was actually a "39," and that these sets are probably part of the undated edition that was put out by the Lockwood firm in 1871. One nice thing about octavo plates, it is unusual to see a plate in very poor condition. The plates seem to hold up better than the letterpress, which can often be found foxed or stained. Tyler estimates about 1000 to 1050 first edition sets were completed. Many of these sets have already been broken up or are in institutional collections. Unfortunately, we have no estimates of how many later edition sets were printed, but as first editions become scarcer, later edition sets (and plates) will become more sought after. Letterpress The octavo letterpress (the original text describing the birds) was distributed along with the plates in each fascicle, and was largely based on the technical descriptions of the individual birds contained in Ornithological Biography. Its organization was based on Audubon's A Synopsis of the Birds of America. Omitted from the letterpress were the episodes from Ornithological Biography that Audubon referred to as "Delineations of American Scenery and Manners." Due to a lack of personal experience, Audubon might have very little to say about a species, but more often the writing is lively and the material of great interest (although not always accurate by modern standards). Audubon was a very talented writer, and you can learn a lot about both the birds, and Audubon himself from the letterpress. When buying prints, some dealers provide the original text pages from the letterpress (if available) or a photocopy. Unfortunately, the paper of the letterpress is often found in poorer condition than the prints (stained, foxed, etc.). It is therefore a good idea to store it so it is not touching your prints.
Last updated 02.28.09 |
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