Audubon: Life and Art in the American Wilderness - Softcover
A narrative biography of ornithologist and animal painter, John Audubon (1785-1851), based primarily on letters to friends and the only two journals not rewritten by a granddaughter. It is divided into two sections: the woodsman, and the artist and naturalist. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
Born Jean Rabin in France, John James Audubon made a name for himself in the New World almost in spite of himself. A failure at business, a footloose and difficult man, he perpetually fought off poverty to establish himself as a painter of America's fabulously varied wildlife. (To support himself while gathering the materials for his famous Birds of America, he painted portraits of New Orleans society ladies.) In this thoroughly researched and well-written biography, Shirley Streshinsky supplies little-known details about Audubon's early years and later tribulations, which were rewarded late in his life by widespread fame and the recognition of his singular contributions to early American science.
From Kirkus Reviews:
Fiction writer Streshinsky (The Shores of Paradise, 1991, etc.) brings her storytelling skills to bear on this accomplished biography of the famous painter of birds. Audubon (1778-1851), a prolific letter-writer and journal- keeper, left an enormous paper trail; although much of it was destroyed by a protective granddaughter, the remaining papers are rich in detail. Drawing on them, Streshinsky tell us that the artist emigrated to America from France in 1803 at the age of 18 and promptly fell in love with both the American wilderness and Lucy Bakewell, his future wife. By the early 1820's, as a failed businessman but expert woodsman, naturalist, and artist, he launched his plan to publish a book illustrating all the birds of America. He roamed the wilderness for several years and, by 1826, had sufficient paintings to go to England in search of a publisher. Audubon traveled through England, Scotland, and France, selling subscriptions to the proposed book, working with the engravers and colorists who reproduced his paintings, and painting furiously. Publication of The Birds of America and his Ornithological Biography brought him recognition and a measure of financial security, though he died before completing the illustrations for The Quadrupeds of America. Streshinsky quotes liberally from Audubon's writings, especially from his journals of the 1820's, when he was separated from his family. The picture that emerges is of a charming, hard-working, sometimes vain and petulant man with a intense love of nature. Surprising to many will be his letters from England begging that newly discovered birds be preserved in whiskey and shipped across the Atlantic to him. A well-modulated biography filled with details of frontier America, 19th-century publishing, scientific and artistic rivalries, and the striking differences between the cultures of the Old and New Worlds. (Sixteen pages of photographs--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherUniv of Georgia Pr
- Publication date1998
- ISBN 10 0820320056
- ISBN 13 9780820320052
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages407
- Rating
Buy New
Learn more about this copy
US$ 6.00
Shipping:
US$ 5.95
Within U.S.A.
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
Audubon: Life and Art in the American Wilderness
Published by
Univ of Georgia Pr., Athens, Georgia
(1998)
ISBN 10: 0820320056
ISBN 13: 9780820320052
New
Soft cover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: Brand New. Soft Cover. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. BRAND NEW BOOK. NO MARKINGS. As Shirley Streshinsky writes in her foreword, this book tells the "full, fascinating story of an extraordinary life against the background of a young, vibrant America." Best known for his extensively illustrated Birds of America, John Audubon traveled from France to the United States as a teenager in 1803, the same year as the Lewis and Clark expedition. Between that time and his death in 1851, he lived his life first as a woodsman and then as a naturalist and artist. This biography covers his travels, his successes and failures, and explains why Audubon is regarded today as synonymous with the conservation movement. "Streshinsky's riveting new biography infuses this man's career with the same vigorous spark of real life that Audubon uniquely brought to the depiction of America's birds." ?Los Angeles Times. Seller Inventory # G1106
Buy New
US$ 6.00
Convert currency
Stock Image
Audubon: Life and Art in the American Wilderness
Published by
University of Georgia Press
(1998)
ISBN 10: 0820320056
ISBN 13: 9780820320052
New
Paperback
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # Abebooks247089
Buy New
US$ 59.00
Convert currency