Audubon’s Birds of America: a rare sighting at New Brunswick’s Legislative Library | CBC News
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Once a month, Kenda Clark-Gorey dons white gloves to carefully turn a single page of a book.
It’s not just any book. It’s the very rare Birds of America by John James Audubon. There were only 120 copies printed, and what’s even more remarkable is that New Brunswick’s Legislative Library has a copy.
“The only one in Atlantic Canada and one of five in Canada,” said Clark-Gorey, the legislative librarian. “It draws visitors. People who love birds, people who are artists.”
Birds of America is a four-volume collection of Audubon’s efforts to find and illustrate every bird in North America. He spent twelve years, from 1827-1838, traveling across the continent to paint 490 birds on 435 plates.
Audubon paintings feature life-sized specimens, which is why Birds of America, when open, measures 100 cm by 140 cm, or 3 X 4.5 feet.
The plates were printed in England on double elephant folio, the largest sheets available at the time. Each of the four volumes weighs 27 kilograms, about 60 pounds. To better preserve them, the Library had them bound into 16 smaller volumes. They also have new spring-back bindings to take pressure off the book spines.
One of these volumes sits in an even larger glass case that is housed on the second floor in the legislature’s committee room. Built in Quebec, the specially designed case is temperature-controlled to ensure humidity levels remain low. As a result, Clark-Gorey can only open it to turn a page in cooler weather.
“Between fall and spring I try to change it at least once a month.” she said. “The glass has protective UV filtering. When I need to change a page, the tray slides out. There are legs I can put to support it because the weight of the book is quite a bit.”
Featured VideoOnly 120 copies exist of this book, which illustrates John James Audubon’s effort to find and illustrate every bird in North America. One of those copies is displayed at New Brunswick’s Legislative Library.
The room where the book is on display will be undergoing renovations for the next couple of weeks, Clark-Gorey said, so there will be no public access to the book during that time.
Exactly how a copy of Birds of America ended up in New Brunswick remains a mystery.
Library records show the legislature had the four volumes in its possession in 1853, after they had been purchased at an auction in New York for 200 British pounds. The legislature also bought tables to hold the books along with Audubon’s autobiography.
It was first believed the book was owned by the Duke of Orléans, the son of King Louis Philippe of France, said Clark-Gorey. Today, there is another theory.
“We believe it was King Louis of France’s sister’s copy, Princess Adelaide or Mademoiselle D’Orléans,” she said. “Just because of the bindings. They were exquisite bindings, and apparently his were done in the same bindings. The timeframe and the bindings — everything leads us to believe they were from that family.”
The Legislative Library’s copy of the Birds of America is not Audubon’s only connection to New Brunswick.
He visited the province over several summers, including in 1831, when he visited Point Lepreau and then sailed to Grand Manan in search of herring gulls and Atlantic puffins.
The following summer, he, his wife Lucy and their children crossed over from Maine for a second visit. The family stayed at the home of Lt.-Gov. Archibald Campbell in Fredericton while Audubon researched northern birds. His visit included traveling up the St. John River to Woodstock.
Back in their hometown of Carmanville, New York, the Audubons became close with their neighbours, Edmund and Jane Price, who were from Saint John.
After Audubon died in 1851, Jane and her eldest daughter Mary were given two oil portraits of Audubon and his wife. The portraits, four photographs and one plate from the Birds of America were eventually donated to the Natural History Society of New Brunswick.
A priceless legacy
The value of New Brunswick’s copy of Birds of America remains a closely guarded secret. Past sales of the book suggest it’s likely worth millions. At a 2018 auction in New York, one copy sold for $13 million. In the United Kingdom in 2011, another went for $14 million.
Quispamsis birdwatcher Jim Wilson says when it comes to the value of the book to birding and wildlife enthusiasts, it’s difficult to put a price on it. He says Audubon’s ability to blend science and art in his unique illustrations is what makes the work timeless.
“It was a mammoth project in its day,” he said. “The legacy of that today is an awareness of birds. Everyone relates Audubon to bird watching and bird protection. He really left a permanent mark and really brought birds to the people through these individual works.”
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