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AUDUBON, John James (1785-1851)
Rocky Mountain Sheep [Pl. 73]
[Pl. 73]. New York: V.G. Audubon, [no date but circa 1849-1854]. Hand-coloured lithograph, after J.J. Audubon by E. Hitchcock, printed by J.T. Bowen. Very good condition apart from some slight marginal soiling. Image size (including text): 6 x 8 1/8 inches. Sheet size: 7 x 10 1/4 inches.
'The plates are to my eye most beautiful' (John Bachman). A fine image from the first octavo edition of Audubon's final great natural history work on the quadrupeds of the United States (including Texas, California and Oregon), as well as part of Mexico, the British and Russian possessions and the Arctic regions.
With the success of the octavo edition of the "Birds of America" in mind, a similar edition of the Quadrupeds was envisaged from an early stage. The folio edition was published in 30 numbers between 1845 and 1854, and publication of the first octavo edition began in 1849 and was also completed in 1854. The "Quadrupeds is a natural-history and artistic triumph. Audubon, James Bachman, John [Woodhouse Audubon], who painted fully one-half of the animals, and Victor [Audubon] and Maria Martin, who supplied many of the backgrounds, had produced truly exceptional work for the Quadrupeds.... the subscribers saw that Audubon had brought the same liveliness and sense of movement to the animals that characterized his birds... Still other viewers... realized that, just as with the Birds, the landscapes played a significant role in these compositions: they told something of the animal's habitat and provided visual interest for the viewer... [Audubon wrote] 'I cannot help copying nature.' That is Audubon's ultimate virtue." (Ron Tyler 'The Publication of The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America' in John James Audubon in the West The Last Expedition, New York, 2000, pp.177-182.)
Bennett, p. 5; Nissen ZBI 163; Reese Stamped With A National Character 38; Wood, p. 208
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#12071 $450.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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