Audubon's Elephant: America's Greatest Naturalist and the Making of The Birds of America

Product Description

A vividly illustrated account of John James Audubon’s struggle in England to complete his masterpiece, The Birds of America Audubon’s Elephant was the nickname given to John James Audubon’s masterpiece, The Birds of America—an oversized folio of 435 life-size ornithological prints that remains to this day the most compelling depiction of bird life in the United States. Born in Haiti and raised in France, Audubon spent much of his adult life as a struggling American businessman on the frontier, where his obsession with birds nearly brought him to financial ruin. In 1826, his ambitious project was also in a precarious position—his folio remained unfinished, without an American publisher willi…