THE ELDRIDGE-AUDUBON EDITION OF FINE AUDUBON PRINTS

Roswell Eldridge, MD offers fine prints from his family’s seven volume 1856 octavo edition of John James Audubon’s Birds of America.  Octavo refers to the volume size which is one eighth that of the magnificent but unwieldy original double elephant folios. 

All five hundred prints, carefully reproduced in situ from pages 150 years old, are available in limited edition in two sizes, facsimile or life size.

The octavo-sized page with its hand colored print measures ten and one half inches in height and between five and three quarters and six and one quarter inches in width, the latter determined by how wide the volume may be spread safely for reproduction purposes. The page facsimile is printed on eight and one half inch by eleven inch archival-quality paper which in turn is double matted at no extra charge. The final size of the page facsimile with its attractive double mat is eleven by fourteen inchs and is ready for display -- as is, or after framing using a standard size frame with that opening.

Alternatively the birds may be returned to Audubon’s original life size in prints on archival-quality paper measuring twenty four by thirty six inches.

Each print is accompanied by an embossed Certificate of Authenticity and an Illustrated Booklet containing Audubon’s complete personal and scientific description of the bird. The Booklet is a unique feature of the
Eldridge-Audubon Edition.

There is choice of two archival papers: museum quality archival photo or cotton rag [Giclee].

Price is determined by print size, choice of paper and relative popularity of the print in the marketplace. Prices start at $90.00 for a double matted octavo size facsimile on archival photo paper accompanied by an embossed Certificate of Authenticity and a booklet with Audubon’s complete description. Proceeds from the sale of each print benefit the Eldridge-Audubon Octavo Initiative. John James Audubon was the most honored American naturalist of his day. (Audubon and Benjamin Franklin were the only Americans elected to the Royal Society, London, before the Civil War while Charles Darwin, in his major works, referred to Audubon more than all other naturalists combined.) Unrecognized today is the fact that only the octavo volumes contain both Audubon’s writing and art; nowhere else was he able to combine the two. Today less than 200 of the first 1200 complete sets can be identified. The relatively few complete sets remaining may be lost to posterity as they can be acquired at a modest price, the 500 pages with hand colored prints removed, sold separately for several thousand dollars in some cases and the text often discarded.

Today it is possible to reproduce fine prints from intact volumes as in this offering – the unique octavos are preserved.

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The following is taken from Ron Flynn's 2007 review of the Eldridge-Audubon Edition and is part of his overview of eight octavo or folio editions (but not doube elephant folio editions) that were available in early 2007 at the folowing website:  http://auduboninfo.net/FO/FOeditions.htm 
 
"I received samples of both 8-1/2" x 11" photo and giclée prints of the Least Bittern...  I found both prints to be excellent, and even the tiny printed credit line were clearly readable on the somewhat textured Somerset paper. There are many fine watercolor papers used today to produce modern Audubon prints. If you have read my articles, you know that the Somerset Velvet paper is my favorite, and I have personally used it for many years. I also received a proof copy of the 24" x 36" print of the Whooping Crane - young (plate #314 now known as the Sandhill Crane). It was printed on the FUJI Crystal archival photo paper, which I have also personally used. I must say the print was stunning. The colors were bright, vivid and true. When these original octavo prints were scanned at high resolution, huge file sizes were created. This enabled the octavo size print to be blown up to 24" x 36". Because of the initial large file size, one would be hard pressed to notice any appreciable loss of detail in the blown up print.

Each print comes with a beautiful certificate of authenticity (COA) with a gold embossed seal affixed at the bottom. Perhaps more impressive is the wonderful booklet that comes with each print. The booklet contains Audubon's original text describing the bird(s) in the print, Also, there is a nice commentary on the Audubon Octavos, written by Roswell Eldridge. I also received a sample matted and framed octavo facsimile, which was superbly packaged with four layers of protection."
 
Flynn presents the following concise summary of prices and prints available:
8-1/2" x 11" photo facsimile prints range in price from $90 to $150, and are limited to 300 total prints per image
8-1/2" x 11" giclée facsimile prints range in price from $180 to $300, and are limited to 90 total prints per image
24" x 36" photo reproduction prints range in price from $360 to $600, and are limited to 90 total prints per image
24" x 36" giclée reproduction prints range in price from $720 to $1200, and are limited to 30 total prints per image

Custom orders now offer any bird, or any quadruped at any size! Contact Roswell for Price

The "Buy Now" buttons contained on each bird's page, which are listed below, are set up to purchase only the full, reproduced page as it appears in the Octavos. To purchase a print of only Audubon's bird, without the border containing the bird name, plate number and initials, please contact Roswell. For birds that do not appear below, and if you are familiar with Audubon's portait of a particular bird, view the alphabetical Index below containing all 500 birds which appeared for the first time in this 1856 Edition Octavo set of Birds of America. When making a custom order, be sure to include the following in your e-mail:

Bird Name, Plate Number, Size (Octavo or Life Sized), Paper Type (Archival or Giclee), or Custom and specify: Full Page or Bird Only

PLUS: Your contact information: name, address, phone number, etc.

Click the thumbnail, name or plate number to view purchasing options....

Audubon's Owls

Snowy Owl

Hawk Owl

Passerine Day Owl

Columbian Day Owl

Burrowing Owl

Tengmalm's Night Owl

Little or Acadian Owl

Barred Owl

Short-Eared Owl

Little Screech Owl

Audubon's Nuthatches

Red-Bellied Nuthatch

Brown-Headed Nuthatch

Californian Nuthatch

The following birds were on display for the month of Nov. '06 at the Palmer House Cafe/Gallery, Rensselaerville, NY

Passenger Pigeon

Ground Dove

Blue-Headed Ground Dove

Carolina Turtle Dove

Wild Turkey (male)

Wild Turkey (female)

Ruffed Grouse

Whooping Crane (adult)

Sandhill Crane (young)

Curlew Sandpiper

Long-Billed Curlew

The following birds are appearing at the Visitors Center/Gallery of the Huyck Preserve, Rensselaerville, NY

Bird

Name

Pl. #

14

White-Crowned Finch

192

Falcons and Swallows

Woodpeckers and Other Birds...