Hare-Indian Dog From The Viviparous Quadrupeds Of North America Audubon, John James (1785-1851) Natural History

Hand-colored lithograph by J. T. Bowen of Philadelphia after a drawing from nature by Audubon. Sheet: (21 3/4 x 27 3/4 inches). Iconic image of a Hare-Indian Dog from the first edition of Audubon's Quadrupeds, the greatest 19th-century work of natural history illustration to be produced in America. "As long as our civilization lasts, America will be in debt to this genius." [Peterson] This fine plate of a Hare-Indian Dog (Canis familiaris), taking watch at the edge of a Native American encampment, is from the folio edition of Audubon's The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, produced entirely in the United States. This extraordinary work was to be Audubon's finale; by 1846 he had to hand over the drawing of the last fifty or so plates to his sons, John Woodhouse and Victor Audubon. The final parts of this work of national importance were published after Audubon's death in 1851. The production of the Quadrupeds was begun by Audubon and his sons at about the same as the commercially-successful octavo edition of The Birds of America. Unlike the double-elephant folio, the Quadrupeds was produced entirely in the United States. Reese notes, "by 1843 the Audubon family business was a well-oiled machine, involving John James, his two sons, and various in-laws and friends. The octavo Birds was still in production when J. T. Bowen began to produce the plates for the elephant folio edition of the Quadrupeds, the largest successful color-plate book project of 19th-century America. It took the family five years to publish 150 plates in thirty parts. The massive project was a commercial success, thanks to the close management of Victor. There were about three hundred subscribers." [Reese] Bennett, p.5. Reese, Stamped With A National Character 36. Sabin 2367. Wood, p.209.