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
In July, 1836, Audubon and John returned to America, to find that
nearly everything in the way of books, papers, the valuable and
curious things collected both at home and abroad, had been destroyed
in New York in the fire of 1835, Mr. Berthoud's warehouse being one of
those blown up with gunpowder to stay the spread of the fire. Mrs.
Audubon and Victor remained in London, in the house where they had
lived some time, 4 Wimpole St., Cavendish Square. After a few weeks in
New York, father and son went by land to Charleston, pausing at
Washington and other cities; and being joined by Mr. Edward Harris in
the spring of 1837, they left Dr. Bachman's where they had spent the
winter, for the purpose of exploring part of the coast of the Gulf of
Mexico. This expedition they were assisted in making by Col. John
Abert,[55] who procured them the Revenue cutter "Campbell." Fire
having afterward (in 1845) destroyed the journals of this period, only
a few letters remain to tell us of the coasting voyage to Galveston
Bay, Texas, though the ornithological results of this journey are all
in the "Birds of America." It was during this visit to Charleston that
the plans were begun which led to the "Quadrupeds of North America,"
under the joint authorship of Audubon and Bachman.[56]
In the late summer of 1837, Audubon, with John and his wife,--for he
had married Maria, Dr. Bachman's eldest daughter,--returned to
England, his last voyage there, and remained abroad until the autumn
of 1839, when the family, with the addition of the first
grandchild,[57] once more landed in America, and settled, if such
wanderers can ever be said to settle, in New York, in the then uptown
region of 86 White St.
The great ornithological work had been finished, absolutely
completed,[58] in the face of incredible delays and difficulties, and
representing an amount of work which in these days of easy travel it
is hard to comprehend. The "Synopsis" also was published in this year,
and the indefatigable worker began at once the octavo edition of the
"Birds," and the drawings of the quadrupeds. For this edition of the
"Birds" Victor attended almost wholly to the printing and publishing,
and John reduced every drawing to the required size with the aid of
the camera lucida, Audubon devoting his time to the coloring and
obtaining of subscribers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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