Life size, with their fine feathers, pin sharp beaks and beady eyes, they could almost take flight right off the page.
John James Audubon’s beautiful portraits of American birds captured the rosy blush on a now extinct Carolina parakeet’s cheek, the violent energy of an eagle attack on a group of docile Virginia partridges and the delicate beauty of fluttering hummingbirds.
Driven by an obsession to record every bird species in North America, the self-taught artist spent more than a decade living and trekking in the wilderness.
Eventually the support of the Scots who championed him led to the publication of his remarkable work, Birds of America. Measuring a colossal one metre and containing 435 life-size hand-coloured prints, it went on to become one of the world’s best known and rarest books.
From next month, National Museum of Scotland visitors will be able to see it in fine detail when a precious copy of the book along with a collection of his watercolour prints and exploration of his…
