Audubon Birds of America and Quadrupeds of North

AUDUBON, John James (1785-1851). The Birds of America, from Drawings Made in the United States and their Territories. - The Quadrupeds of North America. New York: Geo. R. Lockwood and Son, [1870-1871]. Guidance: Christie?s, 2000 - $25,300.
11 volumes. Large 8vo., (10 6/8 x 7 1/8 inches). Half-titles. 655 hand-colored lithographed plates with colour tinted backgrounds after Audubon by W.E. Hitchcock, R. Trembly and others, printed and hand-finished by J.T. Bowen, wood-engraved anatomical diagrams in text. Contemporary half maroon morocco, marbled boards, gilt. Provenance: with the contemporary pencilled ownership inscription of Charles Green dated 1891 on the recto of the first blank of each volume. An attractive set of THE FINAL AND MOST RARE OCTAVO EDITION of John James Audubon's masterpieces.
A fine, tall set with colors very clean and fresh. Audubon created 65 new images for the octavo edition of "The Birds...", supplementing the original 435 of the double-elephant folio edition of 1827-1838. The resulting series of 500 plates constitutes the most extensive American color-plate book produced up to that time. The Philadelphia printer J.T. Bowen reduced the double-elephant plates by camera lucida and the resulting lithographs show significant changes in the backgrounds and compositions. The original configurations were altered so that only one species is depicted per plate. The text revision of the Ornithological Biography, rearranged according to Audubon's "A Synopsis of the Birds of North America" (1839). Tyler Audubon's Great National Work, pp 129, 165 note 10; Bennett, p.5 (this and subsequent references for the first octavo edition); Nissen IVB 51; Sabin 2364; McGrath, p.50; Reese Stamped with a National Character 35 (ref.).