Western meadowlark drawing, printed proof, and image from book - Western meadowlark drawing, printed proof, and image from book

John James Audubon’s engraved, hand-colored elephant folio edition of the Birds, published 1827-1838, was a critical success, but proceeds from its sale were exhausted by the time it was finished. Audubon, always a financial ne’er-do-well, was determined to capitalize on his rising reputation in order to support his family. Returning to the United States, he began publication of a seven-volume royal octavo edition of the Birds that he dubbed his petite édition. Sold by subscription, it cost $100 in contrast to the folio engraved edition, which had cost $1,000. For the petite édition Audubon used lithography – literally “writing on stone” – instead of engraving. Developed at the end of the 18th century by Alois Senefelder, lithography had come into its own in the 19th century. As art historian Ron Tyler explains Lithography is often explained in simple terms, but it is a deceptively complex process…. It requires a soft, porous stone, the best of which is still quarried near Solenhofen, Bavaria. The stones are cut into various sizes and thicknesses, depending upon the size of the press and the image to be reproduced, and then ground … until the desired texture, or grain, is obtained. The lithographic artist, who does not need the special skills of the engraver, then draws on the stone with special greasy or waxy crayons. When the drawing is complete, the stone is bathed with gum Arabic and nitric acid to “fix” the drawing. A greasy, sticky ink is then applied to the stone with a roller. It adheres to the drawing but is repelled by the wet stone. The printer then lays a piece of paper on the stone, applies pressure, and “pulls” the print from the stone. (p. 53) As Tyler further notes, “In preparing the reductions of Audubon’s images, [the lithographer] faced a daunting task: to copy, in a greatly reduced format, one of the most beautiful books ever produced.” In some cases, Audubon’s son John Woodhouse Audubon and other artists used a camera lucida (which used a lens and a prism to project a reduced image onto paper) to produce outline drawings of an appropriate size to be transferred to litho stones. In other cases, Audubon himself created the drawings. LSU holds a small archive of drawings of both types, including 13 drawings attributed to Audubon. To complete the transfer to the litho stone, the drawings would be covered with a sheet of tracing paper held in place with wax, then traced over in red or brown crayon. In some instances, the crayon was applied directly to the drawing. Examples of both are displayed. On Audubon’s drawing for the downy woodpecker, small pieces of tracing paper still adhere to the red wax. Crayon was applied directly to the drawing for the hemlock warbler, which was done using a grid and camera lucida.