Audubon Aquatint Engraving, Mockingbird, Plate 21

Mockingbird, Plate 21. John James Audubon (1785-1851). First Edition Engravings with Original Hand Color. London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838. 38 x 25 1/4 inches sheet, 45 x 32 1/2 inches framed. Guidance: Mid-Hudson, 2014 - $24,400. - “ They are not the soft sounds of the flute or of the hautboy that I hear, but the sweeter notes of Nature’s own music. The mellowness of the song, the varied modulations and gradations, the extent of its compass, the great brilliancy of execution, are unrivalled. There is probably no bird in the world that possesses all the musical qualifications of this king of song, who has derived all from Nature’s self. Yes, reader, all! ”
- Audubon’s Ornithological Biography, 1831