Books and Manuscripts

London: R. Havell, (1833). Hand-colored engraving with aquatint and etching, on J. Whatman watermarked paper, dated 1833. Engraved, printed, and colored by R. Havell after J.J. Audubon’s watercolor. Edges slightly trimmed, light mat burn along same; scattered light surface soiling in image; faint crease, top right corner. 38 1/4 x 25 1/2 in. (97 x 65 cm). In mat and in frame, 42 1/2 x 31 3/4 in. (108 x 81 cm). Low, p. 50, Variant No. 2

Plate XXXVII from Audubon's The Birds of America (London, 1827-38). "Painting and plate depict five birds in a chopped-off dead tree trunk: two quarreling females at top, a male partially hidden behind the tree trunk, a second male peering out from behind the trunk, and a third male perched on a branch sticking out. Audubon painted the two females in Louisiana about 1821." (Susanne M. Low, A Guide to Audubon's Birds of America, p. 50)

A handsome and bright example.