University Times

The University’s complete set of John James Audubon’s “Birds of America” prints is among its most popular treasures. One of about 120 complete sets known to exist, the 435 prints are considered the most valuable set in the University Library System’s collections. The prints depict 497 species in large-format “double elephant folio” size prints, each 27 by 40 inches.

The illustrations have been digitized for online viewing and individual prints are rotated through a display case on Hillman’s ground floor, but ULS has organized a special display on Nov. 18 to expand awareness of the collection, said Jeanann Haas, head of special collections and preservation. Three dozen prints will be on display 9 a.m.- 4:45 p.m. in the Special Collections Reading Room, 363 Hillman Library.

Among the prints that will be on display are the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and several types of owls, the tiny Anna’s hummingbird and the American flamingo. In addition to depictions of common birds such as the American robin, Baltimore oriole and purple martin, less well-known species such as the long-legged avocet and the northern parula also will be on view, according to Charles Aston, curator of rare books, prints and exhibits.

Aston will discuss Audubon’s work and Haas, along with Ed Galloway, head of the Archives Service Center, will detail the library’s efforts to preserve and digitize the collection in a presentation at 1 p.m. in the Amy Knapp Room on the library’s ground floor.

Having a complete set is indeed a rarity. Of about 175 sets that were produced, many have been separated and sold as individual prints. Haas said the value of the sets is increasing as the number of complete sets is decreasing, adding that one set sold in 2000 for more than $8 million.

Touted as the world’s most expensive book, a similar complete “Birds of America” brought the equivalent of about $11.5 million last December at an auction at Sotheby’s in London.

Haas said the University’s set is in good condition and noted that although she is not an appraiser, the recent auction price “is a pretty good representation of what ours might be valued at.”

The book was produced 1827-38 as a four-volume set, based on extensive fieldwork. Audubon’s travels brought him through Pittsburgh in fall 1824, during which time he painted the now-extinct passenger pigeon.

His life-sized depictions of birds in lifelike poses in their natural habitats were unique at the time, although Audubon didn’t always complete the backgrounds himself, Haas said. After he painted the bird, a team of colorists would complete the background at the time the image was being engraved, Haas said, noting that differences in the team members’ styles can be seen in the backgrounds.

Audubon on occasion painted tiny representations of himself in the prints — depicting himself as a hunter in one, she said.

The prints came to the University in the early 20th century when the daughters of Pittsburgh attorney William M. Darlington donated their late father’s library. The plates were digitized in 2007 as part of ULS’s Darlington Digital Library project.

“The digital project breathed new life into our Audubon collection,” said Haas, who noted that the Audubons are among the most highly used of the materials ULS has digitized.

The collection can be viewed online at http://digital.library.pitt.edu/a/audubon/. The site links Audubon’s images with descriptive essays on each bird from his book, “Ornithological Biography,” which was published as a companion to the plates. Another unique aspect, Haas said, is that viewers can use the site’s zoom function to get a close look at the fine detail in each image, “better than the naked eye.”

Digital reproductions of the works may be ordered through a link on the site, with proceeds supporting ULS’s ongoing preservation work.

—Kimberly K. Barlow