7 volumes, royal 8vo (265 x 168 mm). Half-titles, 500 HAND-COLORED LITHOGRAPHED PLATES after Audubon by W. E. Hitchcock, R. Trembly and others, printed and colored by J. T. Bowen, wood-engraved anatomical diagrams in text. (Some scant spotting, primarily to text leaves and tissue guards.) 19th-century half red morocco gilt (rubbing to extremities); blue cloth slipcases.

FIRST OCTAVO EDITION. Audubon’s double-elephant folio edition of The Birds of America (1827-1838) established his reputation as the greatest ornithological artist of his time. Though that edition was published in London to ensure the quality of the plates, he employed the Philadelphia firm of J. T. Bowen to produce this more commercially viable edition under the close supervision of his sons.  The original subscription price was $100, and its commercial success granted Audubon financial security. To the original plate count included in the double-elephant folio edition, the octavo edition adds 65 new images for a total of 500 plates, making it "the most extensive color plate book produced in America up to that time" (Reese). Ayer/Zimmer, p.22; Bennett, p.5; McGill/Wood, p.208; Nissen IVB 51; Reese 34; Sabin 2364.