Yellow Rail

In October 1971, employing the most faithful printing method available, the best materials and the ablest craftsmen of their age, the Amsterdam firm of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Ltd., in conjunction with the Johnson Reprint Corporation of New York, set out to produce the finest possible limited edition facsimile of the greatest bird book ever printed: the Havell edition of John James Audubon’s well-loved Birds of America”.The Birds of America” is the single greatest ornithological work ever produced and is the realization of Audubon’s dream of traveling throughout the United States recording in natural size, every native bird then known. The 435 double-elephant folio sized plates printed by the Havells of London, depict over 1,065 different species, the majority drawn from specimens that Audubon himself had captured. With the printing of the Amsterdam edition, it was the first time in 135 years that Audubon’s entire folio of bird images was reprinted for public sale. Only 250 four-volume sets were created for worldwide distribution. The prints in this Amsterdam Edition are exact facsimiles of the famous Havell Edition, which were originally printed in 1827-38. This edition consists of 435 full color plates of more than 1,100 birds depicted life-size. They are exactly the same size as the original edition (39 1/2 x 26 1/2) and each print is watermarked “G Schut and Zonen (JR) (OT) Audubon. When available, a complete original Havell Edition sells at a price in excess of $4,000,000. Only one other time in the past 150 years has a full-sized Facsimile Edition been successfully completed and it, too, commands many times its original price.

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