Audubon Aquatint, Wood Thrush

AUDUBON, John James (1785 - 1851).
Wood Thrush, Plate 73.
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
London: Robert Havell, 1827-1838.
38 5/8" x 25 1/2" sheet.

Provenance: John Vickers Painter Collection.

Comparable: Guernsey's, 12/05/2012 - $5,490; Christie's, 6/25/2004 - $4,780.

"How often, as the first glimpses of morning gleamed doubtfully amongst the dusky masses of the forest-trees, has there come upon my ear, thrilling along the sensitive cords which connect that organ with the heart, the delightful music of this harbinger of day!--and how fervently, on such occasions, have I blessed the Being who formed the Wood Thrush, and placed it in those solitary forests, as if to console me amidst my privations, to cheer my depressed mind, and to make me feel, as I did, that never ought man to despair, whatever may be his situation, as he can never be certain that aid and deliverance are not at hand" (Audubon's Ornithological Biography, 1831).