One of the most revered names in birding would have to be John James Audubon. Today, there are numerous birding societies and a national magazine named in his honor.
He was born in 1785 as Jean Rabin, the son of a French plantation owner and a Creole French maid. His place of birth was Haiti, but he was raised mostly in France and came to the United States at age 18 to avoid conscription in the Napoleonic Wars.
John James combined artistic talent with a passion for nature, especially birds, and he set out to paint all the American bird species. He shot and collected his own specimens, preparing them and arranging them in lifelike poses for sketching and painting.
He preferred working in watercolor, with touches of pastel and chalk. After creating several hundred drawings, he traveled to Europe to peddle printed folios for about one thousand dollars each. Sales were brisk and he went on to produce about 200 complete sets of his 450 plates. He issued five plates at a time, starting with his signature bird, the wild turkey.
He did not become rich from these sales and was still working hard when death came in 1851 at age 66. His masterwork, “The Birds of America,” sold for more than $11 million in the 21st century. One rare copy is still held by the Philadelphia Academy of Science where, each weekday at 3:15 p.m., a page is turned to display the complete masterpiece over time.
On a discordant note, it must be noted that Audubon was a slave owner and a racist, so he was by no means a perfect person.
Finally, his wife, needing the money, sold many of the original copper plates of his art to a scrap dealer.
