Audubon, Birds of America, Summer Red Bird, 1848 : Art Print Best Place

Summer Red Bird, from Birds of America by John James Audubon, etched by Robert Havell. Birds of America is a book by naturalist and painter John James Audubon, containing colorfull illustrations of birds of the United States, first published in Edinburgh and London in 1827. The book consists of 435 hand-coloured prints made from engraved plates. It includes images of six, now-extinct birds. Art historians describe Audubon’s work as printed with “artistic finesse”. Audubon also authored the companion book Ornithological Biographies, The original Birds of America is the most valuable printed book’s available and is highly prized by rare book collectors.