The Birds of America [WITH] The Quadrupeds of North America. - 1870

New York: George R. Lockwood, [1870 or 1871]. Seventh and final edition. Very good condition in good binding.. Octavo (29 cm); two works in 11 volumes, comprising The Birds of America in 8 volumes and The Quadrupeds of North America in 3 volumes. Collated complete (collation upon request) with 500 tinted and hand-colored lithographic plates of birds and 155 of mammals by W. E. Hitchcock and R. Trembly after Audubon, printed and hand finished by J.T. Bowen. Uniformly bound as issued in black half morocco over green marbled boards, with gilt edging where leather and paper meet. Spines in six compartments, with arabesque lozenges and corners in gilt, along with titles and volume numbers. Top edges gilt. Binding has been reinforced to functional condition, with all joints strengthened with Japanese paper repairs, corners and edges rebuilt where necessary, along with spine ends; some gaps in gilding on spines and labels. Bindings are presentable. Interior remarkably fresh and clean, without spots or blemishes. Paper stock understandably toned slightly, but the extraordinary plates are unmarred. References: Ayer/Zimmer pp.25-26; Nissen IVB 52; Wood p. 209.

Shortly after this edition of Audubon's Birds and Quadrupeds was published, the original lithographic stones fell through the floor of the burning building where they were stored and smashed to pieces. This Lockwood edition, therefore, is the last that was printed from the octavo-format stones made using camera lucida technology in the 1840s and 1850s. In many cases, backgrounds showing the appropriate landscape for the illustrated bird or mammal were filled in. (These were planned but with few exceptions missing from the original editions.) A fine set in a working binding.