Bonaparte Suggest Liverpool for a Publisher
John James Audubon had attempted to find an American publisher for his book of ornithological illustrations, but was unsuccessful. He was then advised by Charles Lucien Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon I and a leading naturalist, to have the engraving done in Europe and to seek subscriptions there.
In 1826, Audubon sailed for Liverpool, England to seek a publisher, at which he was successful, and drew oceanic birds on the way.
Birds of America was published in four volumes between 1827 and 1838 and included 435 hand-colored aquatints depicting 1,065 birds of 489 species. This was followed by the Ornithological Biography, in 1839. Synopsis of the Birds of North America was also published in 1839, on which he worked with William Macgillivray. His books were a huge success in Europe as well as in America.
Up the Missouri to the Mandans
Audubon returned to America and later sailed up the Missouri River hoping to reach the Pacific Coast, but Indian hostilities prevented him from going further than the Mandan villages of North Dakota.
In 1847, his health declined rapidly. He was, at the time, working on The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, but had to leave his work unfinished. He died, at the age of sixty-six, on January 27, 1852, in his house overlooking the Hudson River.
Previous: From Poverty to Painter : Audubon Paints Portraits and Riverboats.
Recommended Reading:
Maude Adams: The Girl Who Grew up to become Peter Pan.
The Cuban Missile Crisis: Attack by Air or Sea.
Sources:
Collier's Encyclopedia, Volume 3. Crowell-Collier Educational Corp., 1968.
Faragher, John Mack, General Editor. American Heritage Encyclopedia of American History. Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1998.
