1851 Audubon Quadruped Octavo Lithograph "Plate 93 Black Footed Ferrett"

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Original first edition Audubon stone lithograph from "The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America", octavo edition, printed and hand-colored by the … Read more Original first edition Audubon stone lithograph from "The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America", octavo edition, printed and hand-colored by the distinguished Philadelphia printmaker John T. Bowen in 1851. Sheet size: 6-1/2 x 10-1/4 inches with gilded edges on three sides; print size: 5 x 7-1/2 inches. From a complete Volume II of "The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America", thus not previously framed or displayed.

Our Audubon Quadruped octavos are exquisite prints of exceptional quality, the finest we have ever seen, free from the foxing, handling wear, major toning, and soiling that is common to most others.

John James Audubon (1785–1851) was a Franco-American naturalist, painter, and pioneering wildlife illustrator best known for his monumental book The Birds of America. Born in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) and raised in France, he immigrated to the United States as a young man and devoted his life to studying and depicting the natural world. After completing "The Birds of America", Audubon turned his attention from birds to mammals. Together with the naturalist John Bachman, he undertook another major project: "The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America". This work, published in both folio and octavo editions, contained detailed illustrations and descriptions of North American mammals. Audubon completed most of the fieldwork and many original drawings, while his sons and Bachman assisted with writing and refinement.

John T. Bowen (active 1830s–1860s), was a American lithographer and printer based in Philadelphia during the mid-nineteenth century. First working in New York before establishing his own lithographic firm in Philadelphia, Bowen became one of the leading practitioners of color lithography in the United States. He is best known for producing the hand-colored lithographs for John James Audubon’s "The Birds of America", and for printing the plates for Audubon and John Bachman’s "The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America", both folio and octavo editions. Although details of his personal life, including his birth and death dates, remain uncertain, Bowen’s professional output significantly shaped American lithography. In addition to his work with Audubon, his studio produced maps, portraits, sheet-music covers, and other printed materials that demonstrated the technical and artistic range of nineteenth-century lithographic production. See less