1981 AUDUBON BIRDS of AMERICA Large FOLIO BOOK

Updated September 24, 2026

AVAILABLE FOR SHIPPING or LOCAL PICKUP > Substantial large-format Audubon’s Birds of America: The Audubon Society Baby Elephant Folio, by noted ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson and Virginia Marie Peterson, issued in 1981 and presented here in the Artabras edition distributed by Harrison House. Measuring about 15" tall x 11.5" wide, the massive volume contains 694 pages, with concordance and index, and reproduces all 435 of John James Audubon’s celebrated bird plates. The plates are arranged according to modern scientific classification rather than Audubon’s original publication sequence, with bird identifications, descriptive captions and concordance material allowing comparison with the original edition. The book also contains an extensive introductory survey placing Audubon’s work within the broader history of American bird illustration and ornithology. John James Audubon (1785–1851) became the dominant American wildlife artist of the early 19th century, best remembered for his monumental The Birds of America, originally published between 1827 and 1838 as 435 large hand-colored engraved plates. His work combined dramatic artistic composition with close observation of North American bird life and remains one of the most recognizable achievements in American natural-history illustration. Audubon also has a particularly strong historical association with Louisiana and New Orleans. He traveled extensively through the lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf South while studying and depicting American birds, and Louisiana became an important part of both his field work and later public identity. New Orleans itself was a major center for the natural-history world in which Audubon worked, and early Louisiana accounts celebrated him as one of the region’s most distinguished ornithological figures. Lavishly illustrated throughout with full-page and double-page color reproductions of waterfowl, birds of prey, shorebirds, game birds, seabirds, woodland birds, songbirds and other North American species. The oversized format preserves much of the visual impact of Audubon’s original Double Elephant Folio, while presenting the complete series in a single more manageable volume. Bound in light-colored cloth with decorative printed spine panels identifying The Audubon Society Baby Elephant Folio, Audubon’s Birds of America, Peterson and Abbeville, and housed in the original matching light-colored slipcase. A major decorative and reference volume with broad appeal to collectors of John James Audubon, ornithology, bird art, wildlife illustration, natural history and Southern Americana. CONDITION REPORT >

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