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John
James Audubon (1785-1851) was born in
Haiti in 1785. He was the illegitimate son of Jean
Audubon, a French merchant and sea captain,
and Jeanne Rabine, a chambermaid who died
in a slave uprising shortly after his birth. Raised
lovingly by his stepmother and father, in the
French countryside around Nantes, he
developed a love of wildlife, especially birds,
and of sketching. At age 18, Audubon was sent
to Pennsylvania to avoid conscription in
Napolean's army and to manage family farm
property at Mill Grove, near Philadelphia.
Lucy Bakewell became his wife in 1808. Her
unwavering support, through difficult financial
and personal circumstances, proved critical
to Audubon's ultimate success as an artist/
naturalist. At age 35, Audubon embarked on
The Birds of America, producing 435 hand-
colored engravings and publishing double
elephant folios (1828-1838), followed by a
smaller, octavo-sized, version. While initiating
the engraving process for The Birds of America,
through Robert Havell, Jr. of London, Audubon
lived in Europe (1827-1829). In Edinburgh,
London, and Paris, he was elected to learned
and scientific honorary societies, and his work
was acclaimed in superlatives. He developed
a noble and royal patronage, and a host of
subscribers.
In 1840, he undertook publication of The
Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America. By
the time Audubon and his four assistants
embarked on their journey up the Missouri
River, in 1843, to collect information & images
of western mammals, he had drawn 61 species.
Although this expedition proved scientifically
disappointing to John Bachman, 150 hand-
colored lithographs were published in both an
imperial folio size (1845-1848) and a smaller
octavo edition (1846-1853).
Audubon died in 1851, with plates for the
Quadrupeds, but not all of the text, completed.
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