| John James Audubon was born in Haiti in 1785. He was the illegitimate son of Jean Audubon, a French merchant and Jeanne Rabine, a chambermaid who died in a slave uprising shortly after his birth. Raised by his stepmother and father, in the French countryside around Nantes, he developed a love of wildlife, especially birds, and of sketching. At age 18, Audubon was sent to Pennsylvania to manage family farm property at Mill Grove, near Philadelphia. Lucy Bakewell became his wife in 1808. Her unwavering support, through difficult financial and personal circumstances, proved critical to Audubon's ultimate success as an artist/naturalist. At age 35, Audubon embarked on The Birds of America, producing 435 hand-colored engravings and publishing double elephant folios (1828-1838), followed by a smaller, octavo-sized, version. While initiating the engraving process for The Birds of America, through Robert Havell, Jr. of London, Audubon lived in Europe (1827-1829). In Edinburgh, London, and Paris. He developed a noble and royal patronage, and a host of subscribers. Audubon died in 1851. |
