Issued in 100 parts, with 5 plates for each part

"The last, or a reprint of the last, complete edition of Audubon's work on the birds of America. It is not dated ..."--Zimmer, J.T. Ayer Lib., p. 26

The text is based on Audubon's descriptions of birds in his Ornithological biography (1831-1839), which was written with the assistance of William MacGillivray. The majority of the plates are based on those appearing in the double elephant folio ed., without text, London, 1827-1838, with some changes made to accommodate the reduced octavo size

"C.A. Alvord, printer"--Verso of t.p.'s

The plates have lithographed beige or aqua backgrounds with hand-colored details, and use block, rather than italic, lettering for the artists' and printers' attributions (both the colored backgrounds and the block lettering are identifying features for the later octavo eds.)

The plates were done after J.J. and J.W. Audubon by W.E. Hitchcock, R. Trembly, and others, and printed and lithographed by J.T. Bowen of Philadelphia

Plate 187 in the text (Townsend's finch) is misnumbered as 188 on the plate, and plate 188 in the text (Brown finch) is misnumbered as 187 on the plate

"John James Audubon" (a biographical sketch): v. 1, p. i-xv, following table of contents

extracted picklist

Audubon & the Smithsonian Exhibit

Audubon & the Smithsonian Exhibit

Audubon & the Smithsonian Exhibit

Audubon & the Smithsonian Exhibit

Audubon & the Smithsonian Exhibit

Audubon & the Smithsonian Exhibit

Audubon & the Smithsonian Exhibit

Audubon & the Smithsonian Exhibit

Smithsonian's America

SCNHRB has two copies; neither is dated. The publisher, George R. Lockwood, issued three undated reprints of The birds of America, in 1870, 1871, and 1889. Both SCNHRB copies have the same plate numbering error described in the NUC pre-56 LC record for the 1871 ed. and are a presumed match for that edition

SCNHRB c. 1 has 8 v.; the biography of Audubon in v. 1 is wanting

SCNHRB c. 1 has bookplate: Gardner Rand

SCNHRB c. 1 has later half-leather binding with marbled boards; raised bands; blind-tooled spine; marbled endpapers and edges

SCNHRB c. 2 is incomplete, containing the plates only

Each v. of SCNHRB c. 2 has bound at end: Baird, S.F. Catalogue of North American birds, chiefly in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution. (Smithsonian miscellaneous collections). Washington : Smithsonian Institution, 1859. Bound together subsequent to publication

SCNHRB c. 2 has binder's titles: v. 1: Land birds, plates 1-160; v. 2: Land birds, plates 161-320; v. 3: Water birds, plates 321-500

SCNHRB c. 2, v. 1 has t.p. with imprint: New York ; Philadelphia : J.J. Audubon, 1844, although the plates are apparently from one of the G.R. Lockwood reprints

SCNHRB c. 2, v. 2 has plates numbered 161-302 [not 320, as on binder's title], plus plates numbered 481-500 (duplicated from v. 3)

SCNHRB c. 2, v. 3 has plates numbered 303-500

SCNHRB c. 2 has stamp on t.p.: Smithsonian Institution National Museum, Dec. 28, 1920; accession no. (all 3 v.): 249931. Note typed on old card set: "Baird, Spencer Fullerton, estate ..."

SCNHRB c. 2 has later green morocco half-leather binding with mottled paper boards; raised bands; gilt-tooled spine; marbled endpapers; top edge gilt

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