Recovering Havell: A New Look at Birds of America

30 Mar 2015
  • Date
    May 12, 2015
  • Time
    5:30 p.m.
  • Location
    Slocum Room, Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Lecturer
    Christoph Irmscher

While we are used to referring to the magnificent Birds of America (1827–1838) as Audubon’s work, it is really also that of his printer, Robert Havell, Jr.  His contribution to the finished product has been marginalized by generations of devoted Audubon admirers. This talk is a first attempt to recover Havell’s impact on individual plates (which ranged from supplying backgrounds to adding in entire specimens)  as well as on the work as a whole. One underlying theme of these reflections will be the extent to which an Englishman who had never seen the United States shaped a work usually defined as quintessentially “American.”

Sponsored by the Friends of the Lilly Library.

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30 Mar 2015
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