"Birds of America" By James Audubon
The "Birds of America", written by naturalist and painter John James Audubon, contains images of a wide variety of birds seen in the United States. Between 1827 and 1838, it was first published in Edinburgh and London as a series of portions. Some of the specimens in the work were provided to Audubon by John Kirk Townsend, who had collected them on Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth's 1834 expedition with Thomas Nuttall.
The piece is made up of 435 hand-colored, life-size prints made from engraved plates that measure approximately 39 by 26 inches (99 by 66 cm). The Carolina parakeet, passenger pigeon, Labrador duck, great auk, pinnated grouse, and probably the Eskimo curlew are among the five, possibly six, now-extinct birds depicted. Audubon's work is said to be of great quality and printed with "artistic refinement" by art historians. Audubon's assistant Joseph Mason painted the plant life backdrops for perhaps 50 of the bird studies, but he is not credited in the book.
“Birds of America” is perhaps the most valuable mass-produced book with the price of $9.65 million in 2018 and definitely one of the most expensive collectibles ever sold.
Price: $9.65 million
