Audubon and His Journals, Volume 1Audubon, John James
History
Audubon and His Journals, Volume 1
Audubon, John James
Audubon, John James, 1785-1851 -- Diaries; Birds -- North America; Naturalists -- United States -- Diaries
_November 2, Thursday._ I drew the bell at the door of No. 80 George
Street, where lives Dr. Thompson, just as the great bell of St.
Andrews struck nine, and we soon sat down to breakfast. Dr. Thompson
is a good, and good-looking man, and extremely kind; at the table were
also his wife, daughter, son, and another young gentleman; and just as
my second cup of coffee was handed to me a certain Dr. Fox entered
with the air of an old friend, and at once sat down. He had been
seventeen years in France, and speaks the language perfectly, of
course. After having spoken somewhat about the scrubbiness of the
timber here, and the lofty and majestic trees of my country dear, I
rose to welcome Mrs. Lizars, who came in with her husband and some
friends. Mr. Lizars had not seen one of my largest drawings; he had
been enamoured with the Mocking-birds and Rattle-snake, but, Lucy,
the Turkeys--her brood, the pose of the Cock Turkey--the Hawk pouncing
on seventeen Partridges, the Whooping Crane devouring alligators newly
born--at these he exclaimed again and again. All were, he said,
wonderful productions; he wished to engrave the Partridges; but when
the Great-footed Hawks came with bloody rags at their beaks' ends, and
cruel delight in the glance of their daring eyes, he stopped mute an
instant, then said, "_That_ I will engrave and publish." We were too
numerous a party to transact business then, and the subject was
adjourned. Fatigued and excited by this, I wrote for some hours, and
at four walked out and paid my respects to young Dr. Henry at the
Infirmary,--a nice young man,--and at five I found myself at Mr.
Lizars', who at once began on the topic of my drawings, and asked why
I did not publicly exhibit them. I told him how kind and generous the
Institution at Liverpool had been, as well as Manchester, and that I
had a letter of thanks from the Committees. He returned with me to my
lodgings, read the letter, and we marched arm in arm from Mrs.
Dickie's to Professor Jameson, who kept the letter, so he said, to
make good use of it; I showed Mr. Lizars other letters of
recommendation, and as he laid down the last he said: "Mr. Audubon,
the people here don't know who you are at all, but depend upon it they
_shall_ know." We then talked of the engraving of the Hawks, and it
seems that it will be done. Perhaps even yet fame may be mine, and
enable me to provide all that is needful for my Lucy and my children.
Wealth I do not crave, but comfort; and for my boys I have the most
ardent desire that they may receive the best of education, far above
any that I possess; and day by day science advances, new thoughts and
new ideas crowd onward, there is always fresh food for enjoyment,
study, improvement, and I must place them where all this may be a
possession to them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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