Leipzig Edition
1972
John James Audubon's Birds of America has been called the greatest and finest bird book of all time. For this reason alone, there have been many editions published throughout the decades. The Leipzig Edition of the work was published in 1972 in Leipzig, Germany. Forty images were included in this reprint, and only 1000 copies were made. Two books of twenty prints each were offered; one book of horizontally oriented prints, one book of verticals. Five hundred bound copies were printed, along with five hundred more loose prints of each image. Though a somewhat outdated printing method called the collotype process, a photomechanical printing method that uses a hardened gelatin base to produce the printed image. These prints feature remarkably vibrant color. In fact, even under magnification, these Leipzig Edition Audubons show no geometric pattern of dots as is common with modern printed color. They are on heavy weight paper that is double-elephant sized, ~ 27" by 38 1/2".
The 40 bird images that were used in the Leipzig Edition are listed below:
| Plate Number | Image Name |
|---|---|
| 8 | White Thoated Sparrow |
| 12 | Baltimore Oriole |
| 20 | Blue Winged Yellow Warbler |
| 26 | Carolina Parrot |
| 32 | Black-billed Cuckoo |
| 33 | Yellow Bird or American Goldfinch |
| 41 | Ruffed Grous |
| 53 | Painted Bunting |
| 56 | Red-shouldered Hawk |
| 62 | Passenger Pigeon |
| 72 | Swallow-tailed Hawk |
| 75 | Le petit Caporal |
| 87 | Florida Jay |
| 111 | Pileated Woodpecker |
| 121 | Snowy Owl |
| 127 | Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
| 142 | American Sparrow Hawk |
| 177 | White-crowned Pigeon |
| 191 | Willow Grous or Large Ptarmigan |
| 206 | Summer or Wood Duck |
| 217 | Louisiana Heron |
| 249 | Tufted Auk |
| 255 | Red Phalarope |
| 256 | Purple Heron |
| 262 | Tropic Bird |
| 276 | King Duck |
| 297 | Harlequin Duck |
| 307 | Blue Crane or Heron |
| 327 | Shoveller Duck |
| 354 | Louisiana Tanager, Scarlet Tanager |
| 361 | Long-tailed or Dusky Grous |
| 364 | White-winged Crossbill |
| 367 | Band-tailed Pigeon |
| 371 | Cock of the Plains |
| 386 | White Heron |
| 387 | Glossy Ibis |
| 392 | Louisiana Hawk |
| 397 | Scarlet Ibis |
| 416 | Hairy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-shafted Woodpecker, Lewis' Woodpecker, Red-breasted Woodpecker |
| 429 | Western Duck |
A brief biography of John James Audubon can be found here.
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