Audubon Aquatint, Chuck-Will

AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Chuck-Will's Widow, Plate 52.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
39 3/8" x 26 1/4" sheet , with deckled uncut edges.

Comparable: Arader Galleries, 2019 - $12,500; Guernsey's, 2013 - $10,980.

Lots 1-13 are wonderful examples of Audubon's aquatints, and are the finest we have ever seen. Of the roughly 180 sets of Audubon produced from 1827-1838, we know of only six that were never bound (one for King William, one in Moscow and 4 others). These aquatints come from one of the unbound sets owned by John Vickers Painter in Cleveland in the 1880's. Because it was never bound, they have huge untrimmed paper sheets of approximately 39 1/2" x 26 1/2" in size, while a standard bound Audubon has a paper size of 38 5/8" x 25 3/4". To collectors, a full uncut sheet makes a tremendous difference. Beyond this, they are in mint original condition with no restoration, and color with the highest level of gradations creating compelling dimension and depth.

"No sooner has the sun disappeared, and the nocturnal insects emerge from their burrows, than the sounds, "chuck-will's-widow," repeated with great clearness and power.... bringing to mind a pleasure mingled with a certain degree of melancholy, which I have often found very soothing." - (Audubon’s Ornithological Biography, 1831).