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- 15 - Blue Yellow-backed Warbler (SOLD)
15 - Blue Yellow-backed Warbler (SOLD)
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Hand-colored engraving with aquatint and etching. J Whatman 1835 watermark. Variant 2. Excellent original colors. Audubon painted these birds in New Orleans in 1821 (Low).
Audubon wrote: "This pretty species enters Louisiana from the south as early as spring appears, at the period when most insects are found closer to the ground, and more about water-courses, than shortly after, when a warmer sun has invited every leaf and blossom to hail the approach of that season when they all become as brilliant as nature intended them to be. The little fellow under your eye is then seen flitting over damp places, such as the edges of ponds, lakes, and rivers, chasing its prey with as much activity and liveliness as any other of the delicate and interesting tribe to which it belongs. It alights on every plant in its way, runs up and down it, picks here and there a small winged insect, and should one, aware of its approach, fly off, pursues it and snatches it in an instant.
I have placed a pair of these Warblers on a handsome species of iris. This plant grows in the water, and in the neighbourhood of New Orleans, a few miles below that city, where I found it abundantly, and in bloom, in the beginning of April. Several flowers are produced upon the same stem. I have not met with it anywhere else, and the name of Louisiana flag is the one commonly given it."
Audubon wrote: "This pretty species enters Louisiana from the south as early as spring appears, at the period when most insects are found closer to the ground, and more about water-courses, than shortly after, when a warmer sun has invited every leaf and blossom to hail the approach of that season when they all become as brilliant as nature intended them to be. The little fellow under your eye is then seen flitting over damp places, such as the edges of ponds, lakes, and rivers, chasing its prey with as much activity and liveliness as any other of the delicate and interesting tribe to which it belongs. It alights on every plant in its way, runs up and down it, picks here and there a small winged insect, and should one, aware of its approach, fly off, pursues it and snatches it in an instant.
I have placed a pair of these Warblers on a handsome species of iris. This plant grows in the water, and in the neighbourhood of New Orleans, a few miles below that city, where I found it abundantly, and in bloom, in the beginning of April. Several flowers are produced upon the same stem. I have not met with it anywhere else, and the name of Louisiana flag is the one commonly given it."
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15 - Blue Yellow-backed Warbler
Hand-colored engraving with aquatint and etching.
J Whatman 1835. Variant 2.
Havell Edition, Birds of America
The Havell edition prints are considered as the most desirable of all of Audubon's original art work. During the period 1827 to 1838, Audubon produced the images for his monumental "The Birds of America" (BOA) with the assistance of engravers William Lizars of Scotland for the first few prints and then with Robert Havell, Sr and Jr., in England. These are copper plate engravings (435 plates) printed on high quality wove paper with a watermark (either J. Whatman or J. Whatman Turkey Mill, followed by the year). These plates (commonly referred to as the "Havell Edition") are known for the exquisite and unsurpassed beauty and details in the images, and the fresh vibrant colors. Audubon printed only a small number of the full sets of the BOA (between 175 to 200 copies). Most of these full sets are in museums, and a few in private hands, with only a few loose prints available for purchase by the general public. In the 19th century, some of the owners of these original prints, understandably given the time period and not anticipating how rare Audubon's Havell prints would become, did not pay the utmost attention and care in preserving these precious copperplate engravings; as a result, some prints got trimmed right down to the platemarks (to save on framing expenses), or got destroyed due to exposure to the elements (bleaching from exposure to bright sunlight, smog, smoke etc), and didn't survive or retain the original pristine condition. The rarity of these Havell Edition prints becomes very quickly obvious especially when one is searching for a particular bird print - - they are very difficult to find indeed!
In the 2010 Sotheby's Auction, the Lord Hesketh 4-volume set of Audubon's The Birds of America sold for a record-breaking $11.5 million!
All the plates listed in this section are original full sheets with the Whatman watermark, unless otherwise noted in the description. Please ask for a detailed "Condition Report" for any particular print you might be interested in, before purchasing.
J Whatman 1835. Variant 2.
Havell Edition, Birds of America
The Havell edition prints are considered as the most desirable of all of Audubon's original art work. During the period 1827 to 1838, Audubon produced the images for his monumental "The Birds of America" (BOA) with the assistance of engravers William Lizars of Scotland for the first few prints and then with Robert Havell, Sr and Jr., in England. These are copper plate engravings (435 plates) printed on high quality wove paper with a watermark (either J. Whatman or J. Whatman Turkey Mill, followed by the year). These plates (commonly referred to as the "Havell Edition") are known for the exquisite and unsurpassed beauty and details in the images, and the fresh vibrant colors. Audubon printed only a small number of the full sets of the BOA (between 175 to 200 copies). Most of these full sets are in museums, and a few in private hands, with only a few loose prints available for purchase by the general public. In the 19th century, some of the owners of these original prints, understandably given the time period and not anticipating how rare Audubon's Havell prints would become, did not pay the utmost attention and care in preserving these precious copperplate engravings; as a result, some prints got trimmed right down to the platemarks (to save on framing expenses), or got destroyed due to exposure to the elements (bleaching from exposure to bright sunlight, smog, smoke etc), and didn't survive or retain the original pristine condition. The rarity of these Havell Edition prints becomes very quickly obvious especially when one is searching for a particular bird print - - they are very difficult to find indeed!
In the 2010 Sotheby's Auction, the Lord Hesketh 4-volume set of Audubon's The Birds of America sold for a record-breaking $11.5 million!
All the plates listed in this section are original full sheets with the Whatman watermark, unless otherwise noted in the description. Please ask for a detailed "Condition Report" for any particular print you might be interested in, before purchasing.