University Times

The University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS) has digitized and mounted online its collection of John James Audubon’s “Birds of America” and his “Ornithological Biography.” Visitors to the web site (http://digital.library.pitt.edu/a/audubon/) will have access for the first time to complementary resources.

John James Audubon (1785-1851) set out to paint every known North American bird in the early 19th century. He eventually stopped at 435 paintings after he exhausted his personal resources. Based upon the paintings, Audubon developed a series of hand-colored plates that are considered unique. He sold the engraved plates in a subscription series in England, Europe and North America over a period between 1827 and 1838, at a cost totaling about $1,000.

It is thought that no more than 120 complete sets exist today. Each set consists of 435 individual plates that are based upon the original paintings. Each plate was engraved, printed and hand-colored, in large part thanks to Robert Havell of London, although William Lizars, of Edinburgh, was involved with the first 10 plates.

To replicate the actual size of some of the larger birds, Audubon insisted that Havell engrave the prints on Whatman “double elephant” folio-size mold-made paper (26 x 38 inches), the largest paper sheets available at the time. Complete sets of the engraved, hand-painted plates frequently were bound together by their individual owners, normally into four large volumes. Each of the volumes weighed 60 pounds or more.

Today, ornithologists, art historians, rare book librarians and collectors consider Audubon’s masterpiece the greatest work on North American ornithology ever published.

While Audubon was developing “Birds of America,” he also was working on a companion publication, his “Ornithological Biography.” Originally published in 1831, this five-volume set contains narratives that describe each bird and includes information such as their habitat. Together these sets comprise an unprecedented online combination.

The Digital Research Library, a unit within ULS, digitized the “Birds of America” plates and “Ornithological Biography” as part of a larger effort to convert the vast holdings of the Darlington Memorial Library into digital format for greater accessibility. The digital interface enables viewing of portions of the plates at full resolution, revealing the quality of the original hand-colored plates.

For more information, contact Michael Dabrishus, 412/244-7065 or michaeld@pitt.edu.