Sotheby’s to sell rare ‘Birds of America’
LONDON: Sotheby's is auctioning a rare copy of John James Audubon's Birds of America, billed as the world's most expensive book a treasure that could sell for 6mil.
One of only 100 or so remaining copies of Birds of America, the tome will be on the block in London alongside a first edition of Shakespeare's plays expected to fetch at least 1mil.
The books come from the estate of the 2nd Baron Hesketh, an aristocratic book collector who died in 1955. Another complete copy of Birds of America was sold by Christie's for US$8.8mil in 2000, a record for a printed book at auction.
The collection of 435 hand-colored prints is made from engravings of Audubon's illustrations. - AP
John James Audubon
The Audubon Society's namesake actually had nothing to do with the organization's founding -- he died 35 years before the organization's first incarnation. But John James Audubon's career as a scientific illustrator of birds made his name a natural choice for an ornithological society.
After a failed business venture in Kentucky, Audubon headed west with his gun, art supplies and an assistant to begin a collection of avian illustrations. His large, colorful and extremely detailed depictions of birds proved enormously successful when they debuted in London in 1826. The illustrations were eventually printed in a collection entitled "Birds of America."
The books come from the estate of the 2nd Baron Hesketh, an aristocratic book collector who died in 1955. Another complete copy of Birds of America was sold by Christie's for US$8.8mil in 2000, a record for a printed book at auction.
The collection of 435 hand-colored prints is made from engravings of Audubon's illustrations. - AP
John James Audubon
The Audubon Society's namesake actually had nothing to do with the organization's founding -- he died 35 years before the organization's first incarnation. But John James Audubon's career as a scientific illustrator of birds made his name a natural choice for an ornithological society.
After a failed business venture in Kentucky, Audubon headed west with his gun, art supplies and an assistant to begin a collection of avian illustrations. His large, colorful and extremely detailed depictions of birds proved enormously successful when they debuted in London in 1826. The illustrations were eventually printed in a collection entitled "Birds of America."
Comments
Post a Comment