“The Birds of America” Come to Life at NSLM

Written by Diane Helentjaris | Images courtesy of the National Sporting Library & Museum

This year, dovetailed exhibits at the National Sporting Library & Museum will offer an unprecedented experience to museumgoers and nature lovers. In “Intrepid Audubon: The Birds of America,” a first edition of John James Audubon’s “The Birds of America” will be on display in the museum. The exhibit will focus on the oversized bound folios, with each of the four volumes open to strategic pages. An interactive touch screen will give access to all images. Other associated materials, including an original copper plate used to print one of the illustrations, will also be on display.

A second, complementary exhibit in the Library, “Drawn to Nature: 300 Years of Natural History Illustration,” will detail the development of the area of study leading up to Audubon. Both have been created in partnership with the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Upperville, VA.

“The Birds of America” plays an unrivaled part in the history of American conservation and wildlife art. John James Audubon was born in St. Domingue, modern-day Haiti, in 1785 to a French sugar plantation owner and his servant. Raised in France, Audubon immigrated to the United States as a teen. Initially a failed businessman familiar with the bleak reality of debtor’s prison, he became a self-taught artist and naturalist with significant skill and ingenuity. 

After honing his artistry and with the support of his wife, he set off to document the birds of the New World. However, his impolitic behavior annoyed the American ornithology community, and his professional efforts in the States began to fizzle. In 1826, he left the U.S. for England, where he found the support he needed to bring “The Birds of America” into existence. According to Colleen Yarger, Ph.D., curator of “Drawn to Nature” and NSLM’s George L. Ohrstrom, Jr. Curator of Library Collections, he “became a rock star in England. His popularity blossomed… He was a self-promoter [who] painted himself as a rugged individualist.” 

“The Birds of America” was sold by subscription. Preparation and printing spanned 1827 through 1838. This initial version, known as the Double Elephant Folio for its paper size, was sold in four volumes with a spine of 39 inches. The book documented 489 bird species. 

Audubon’s unique style was to depict birds going about their typical activities within their natural habitat. Earlier wildlife illustrators often had their animals posed woodenly against a nearly blank background. Audubon’s bobwhite quail huddle and flap about in grassland, their beaks open in terror, as a red-shouldered hawk attacks, and swamp grass backs his roseate spoonbill. He includes multiple versions of many birds to depict different stages of maturation or help the viewer distinguish the sexes in a species, and the birds are illustrated life-size.

There were no telephoto lenses or cameras available to Audubon. He observed birds in the field to learn about their behavior and habitat and relied on hunted specimens to decipher their markings. He innovated a mounted wire system to create realistic compositions. His full-scale images, often coupled with lush foliage, delivered a walloping visual impact. The generous size of the paper enhanced accuracy as he could compare the exact measurements of the dead birds with his sketches or painted images. 

Classification systems of animals and plants were still evolving. Then, as now, discovering a new species was a remarkable achievement. Some scholars believe competition was a major driver for Audubon’s work, and that he wanted to outdo earlier ornithologists in the number of species he identified.

The edition featured in NSLM’s exhibit is on loan from the Oak Spring Garden Foundation. According to Yarger, this set of four volumes has been examined by scholars who “say they are the most brilliantly colored examples of these. They haven’t faded at all. These are pristine.” She believes this is because they were “so carefully stored by Mr. and Mrs. Mellon, and after them by the Oak Spring Garden Foundation,” and adds that they are “one of the most striking first editions of Audubon’s Double Elephant Folio you’ll see today… They don’t make books like this anymore.” To preserve its condition, the books are not routinely on display.

A natural lead-in to “Intrepid Audubon,” NSLM’s “Drawn to Nature: 300 Years of Natural History Illustration” covers the burgeoning studies in natural history prior to Audubon’s work. Books, texts, framed prints, and other materials are on loan from OSGF, the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Wyoming, and multiple private collections. Yarger says, “Audubon hits a peak, the apogee of that art form. On display are the people who set the benchmark broken by [that] next generation. Everyone was in competition to set their work apart.” 

These two exhibitions will be open from April 12 through September 13, 2025. On Saturday, April 12, the museum will host “Coffee with the Curator for ‘Intrepid Audubon: The Birds of America’ and ‘Drawn to Nature: 300 Years of Natural History Illustration.’” Coffee and pastries will be served and followed by a special one-hour guided tour. Tickets and more event details are available online at nationalsporting.org. 

Over time, Audubon’s name has become synonymous with conservation. Claudia Pfeiffer, curator of “Intrepid Audubon” and NSLM’s George L. Ohrstrom, Jr. Deputy Director & Head Curator, describes him as “a hunter-naturalist, an artist, a mythmaker. His ability to tell a story and promote himself gained momentum in England, where he creates a persona as a frontiersman, [an] intrepid personality in the wilds of America.” 

In recent years, the fact that Audubon was an enslaver has come to the fore and negatively affected his reputation. During his lifetime, he was also accused of scientific misconduct. Modern research has upheld claims that not all his data was accurate. Yet, his impact as an artist and naturalist is undeniable. As an artist-naturalist, Audubon succeeded in his mission to document and share the fantastic birds living in America nearly 200 years ago.

This year, the State of the Birds 2025 report by the U.S. Committee of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, a public-private partnership, found persistent losses of the continent’s bird population. Over the past 50 years, “a third of all American bird species” has become at “high or moderate concern due to low populations, declining trends, or other threats.” The report estimates a net loss of 3 billion birds during this period, though it confirms that bird-friendly policies and conservation efforts can be effective in preserving the birds in our world.

Among others, Audubon’s “The Birds of America” includes images of the passenger pigeon. During his lifetime, this mourning-dove-like bird flew overhead in sky-darkeningly huge flocks. Under the stresses of overhunting and habitat loss, the species evaporated. The last known passenger pigeon, named Martha, died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914. Four other extinct birds and three “most likely” extinct are in his publication. Audubon’s exquisite images remind us not only of the wonderful birds that surround us, but also of what has been lost and what is at risk. ML

For more information, visit nationalsporting.org.

Published in the April 2025 issue of Middleburg Life.