BEHIND THE SALE
Discover the extraordinary book, The Birds of America, which made waves in the salesroom
This summer, a unique copy of The Birds of America went up for auction, causing a storm. Beloved by interior designers to this day, the paintings in this super- rare tome have become iconic. Caroline Wheater charts the tale of the ornithological wonder…
t a private viewing in America earlier this year, a hush descended upon
the room as Sven Becker, Head of Books and Manuscripts at Christie’s, carefully turned the pages of the colossal Portland Audubon, a superlative ! rst- edition copy of John James Audubon’s The Birds of America. This rarest of rare books, in excellent condition and comprising four volumes, each weighing around 20kg, had been consigned to auction by the family of philanthropist and conservationist Carl W Knobloch Jr, the late owner. It had an estimate of $8m to $12m – connoisseur territory.
With gold leaf glinting from the extravagant red leather bindings, each gigantic page – three-feet tall or double elephant-folio size in book speak – revealed another of the 435 handcoloured engravings taken from Audubon’s life- size watercolours. A great blue heron stalking between rushes, a "amingo about to dip its head into water (the only way this huge
bird could !t onto the page), and two black-bellied darters lurking on a tree stump, ready to devour their prey.
‘ Before The Birds of America, birds were depicted in a staid and quasiscienti !c way, as if si" ing sti #y for a formal portrait,’ explains Sven. ‘ In contrast, Audubon captures the life essence of his subjects, showing them in their most typical a" itudes, in vivid compositions. Two of my favourite depictions are the ! sh hawk in mid-$ ight with a ! sh in its talons, and two pairs of mockingbirds defending their nest from a ra" lesnake.’
Slated for auction on 14th June, institutions, wealthy bibliophiles and dealers from around the world were already limbering up for sale day. ‘ The book is both a pre- eminent natural history document and a visually arresting work of art,’ comments Sven. There are only 120 complete sets of
The Birds of America known to exist in the world, of which 107 are in institutions – The British Library and the American Museum of Natural History, for example – with just 13 in private hands.
Sven ! rst set eyes on The Portland Audubon some years ago in the library of Welbeck Abbey, No" inghamshire. It had resided there since the 4th Duke of Portland acquired it some time a % er 1838 (Carl W Knobloch Jr bought it in 2012, also at Christie’s). ‘ The library had bookcases from $oor to ceiling ! lled with richly gilded books that gave the room a golden glow. The Portland Audubon is in a particularly ! ne red leather binding, produced by royal bookbinder John Mackenzie, so the ! rst impression, in that se" ing, was awe-inspiring,’ he recalls.
The towering format of the book enabled Audubon to depict all 1,037 known North American birds at their full size. Supported by subscriptions from 161 parties, which included the USA House of Representatives, The
Birds of America was created over an 11-year period. ‘Audubon did not conceive the drawings as independent works of art and he did not sell them: they served as models for the printer and colourists, and he displayed them in exhibitions to a" ract subscribers to the books,’ explains Sven.
The Birds of America has its roots in 1790s France, when, as a child, Audubon rambled through the countryside, collecting wild birds then stu & ng and drawing them at home. In 1803, John James was sent to
The Portland Audubon is in a ne red leather binding, produced by royal bookbinder John Mackenzie