AUDUBON'S GREATEST TRIUMPH 177 



under the name of the Cygnus Bewicki, but as your measure- 

 ments there and then given are very far from those of the swan 

 now known under the name of Old Bewick I should feel obliged 

 to you to let me know whether the specimen you described from 

 was the identical bird procured by Captain Lyons, and of which 

 that gentleman described the nest? And again I should like 

 you to tell me whether you have seen the Clangula vulgaris 

 of Linn, that in the months of April & May? 



Many thanks for all your kind wishes & may you and yours 

 enjoy the like return of many many new & happy years. — Call 

 upon us when you come to Town and believe me my dear Mr 

 Swainson ever sincerily 



yours attached friend 



John J. Audubon 



I have had the jawache for nearly one week & have not been 

 out of the house 



4 Wimpole Street 



Audubon's day of greatest triumph came on June 

 20, 1838, when he had the supreme satisfaction of seeing 

 the last plate of his "Book of Nature," The Birds of 

 America, completed. Having been begun virtually in 

 the autumn of 1826, it was in press nearly twelve years. 

 The sumptuous character of this work, its commanding 

 beauty, as well as its surprising accuracy, considering all 

 the obstacles of time and circumstance, mark it, when 

 combined with its letterpress, as one of the most remark- 

 able and interesting undertakings in the history of litera- 

 ture and science in the nineteenth century. Unique 

 as it was in every detail of its workmanship, it will 

 remain for centuries a shining example of the triumph 

 of human endeavor and of the spirit and will of man. 

 This is true in spite of any errors it may disclose, and 

 even if it be conceded that bare bones and plain photo- 

 graphs are more valuable for elucidating the technicali- 



