During the 1800s there weren’t any field guides available for birders. Actually, there weren’t many birdwatchers either. I am sure there was a certain portion of the population that enjoyed seeing birds and knew how to identify quite a few bird species but the few people who were serious about birds were ornithologists and people who collected bird specimens. John James Audubon was the latter and an artist. If he lived today, he would be walking around with binoculars and a scope instead of a gun but views about birds were very different during his time on the planet.
Audubon holds a place of distinction in the field of birdwatching because he illustrated the first bird book for North America. Far too big to be a field guide (or even a coffee table book), this monumental work of art is nonetheless one of the most important birding books in history. Each of the four volumes of the “Birds of America” is more than a meter tall due to Audubon painting life-sized depictions of each species. He also personally risked life and limb in the wilds of early 19th century America to collect most of the birds illustrated in the book. Only 200 copies of the first edition of the “Birds of America” were ever made, one of which was recently auctioned by Christie’s for 7.9 million dollars. If the lucky buyer isn’t a birdwatcher, hopefully this new prestigious acquisition will encourage him or her to take up the hobby.
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