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The Amsterdam Edition of The Birds of America |
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The Amsterdam Edition represents investment quality reproductions of Audubon’s most famous work. It was the first time in 135 years that Audubon's entire folio of bird images was reprinted for public sale. This arduous task was undertaken by the Johnson Reprint Corporation in 1971 and rose to completion in 1973. It was physically printed in Amsterdam; thus, the name of the edition. Only 250 four-volume sets were created for worldwide distribution. The prints in this Amsterdam Edition are exact facsimiles of the famous Havell Edition, which were originally printed in 1827-38. This edition consists of 435 full color plates of more than 1100 birds depicted life-size. They are exactly the same size as the original edition (26" x 39 1/2") and each print is watermarked "G Schut and Zonen (JR) (OT) Audubon." When available, a complete original Havell Edition demands a price in excess of $4,000,000. Only one other time in the past 150 years has a full-sized Facsimile Edition been successfully completed and it, too, commands many times its original price. So expensive and tedious is the process, that it is difficult to imagine that it will ever be attempted again. |
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