Title: Col. Abert's Squirrel

California Grey Squirrel

Date: copyright dated 1849, title page dated 1854

Medium: Stone Lithography on High Quality Wove Paper

Color: Original Hand Coloring with some gum arabic sheen

Dimension: paper (18 x 26.3 cm or 7 x 10 3/8 inch) No.30 Plate CLIII from volume III of Quadrupeds of North America [1854], Drawn from Nature by J.W. Audubon, Lith. Printed and Cold. by J. T. Bowen Philada (on the print), ,on stone by Wm E. Hitchcock

Condition:

      The print is in excellent condition [i.e., clear and pristine image, strong and bright paper, vivid colors, no bend, no tear, gilded on all three edges, and slight but even age toning]. It was printed on high quality heavy wove paper with a blank verso. The print is nearly flawless with no apology [the companion text pages are in excellent condition too]. Photo in high resolution is presented for your convenience of identification and judging its high quality independently. 

Description:

      After his monumental work on Birds of North America, John James Audubon (1785 – 1851) assisted by his two sons (Woodhouse and Victor) and Rev. Bachman had set forth for another historical work that attempted to illustrate all the mammals of North America.  The result was the publication of The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America in 1845 – 48 in three volumes with 150 plates. And again following his success of publishing the octavo edition[s] of the Birds of North America, the Audubon family had decided to publish the equally charming octavo edition[s] of The Quadrupeds of North America.

     The octavo edition [total of 155 plates with descriptive text] of the Quadrupeds were initially issued via subscription at 5 parts each beginning at 1849 and finished in 1854 and subsequently bounded into three volumes. In all, three octavo editions of Quadrupeds of North America were published between 1849 – 1856 with overlapping time-frame that became a headache for serious Audubon collectors for there is no objective way of distinguishing the loose prints from the three editions [other than a few from the first 31 plates of volume I, when bearing the credits of Nagel & Weingaertner, can be authenticated as printed earliest – hence – 1^st edition].

     Par tradition, one sometimes relying on the publishing year on title page [e.g., 1851 for volume II as 1^st edition, 1852 for Volume I as 2^nd edition, and 1856 for volume III as 3^rd edition] to designate certain sets as from certain edition as we have done here. The loose prints [including the current one] showing here were all derived from the same set of “1^st edition” issued in 1851[volume 1], 1851 [volume II], and 1854 [volume III]. This is nice information to have in addition to its outstanding quality as shown. Furthermore, there are 13 plates from the volume 1 that bear the credit of Nagel & Weignaertner from this set.

But of course, current research indicated that, it is sometimes pointless [e.g., with overlapping years of publications and the mixed match of individual prints] of talking about edition with individual plate especially when it is known that some plates bearing the credits of Nagel & Weignaertner [thus individually recognized earliest printed plates] were found in the later editions while the 2^nd states plates were routinely found in the known 1^st edition designated from its title page and copyright date. The title page is for your identification purpose only and will not be included in the package, but the descriptive text [in excellent condition too] will be included with the plate.

      Please note the modest asking price [e.g., trading at > $100 for the same print of lesser quality] with no reserve for this very nice and highly displayable item collector’s item [especially in such impeccable condition]. Thanks for looking and Happy Bidding!

     It will be securely packaged flat and shipped via USPS 1st class or priority mail with insurance (included in shipping and handling fee) for domestic address or USPS International Airmail Priority for international address.

     Note that this item [and our other antique maps and prints] is absolutely and unconditionally guaranteed [with full 100% money back including shipping / handling and your return postage and with no-question-asked return policy] to be original [i.e., not a later copy or reproduction] and as described. Please take a look at our other related maps/prints items on eBay store or auction format.

© The descriptive text above shows the depth of my research and familiarity to the item. It is against ebay policy to copy the text [in part or in its entirety] without my explicit consent or permission.