AUDUBON'S FAMILY IN AMERICA 297 



who had never learned to discriminate between a hand- 

 colored copper-plate engraving and a lithograph, were 

 deceived by an adroit, but essentially spurious adver- 

 tisement of these inferior reproductions when they were 

 being exploited by a firm of Boston book dealers. The 

 original bulk of these large lithographs must have been 

 vast indeed, if the following story, which was attributed 

 to a member of the firm in question, be true : "We bought 

 the entire stock of those plates, many years ago," so this 

 man is reported to have said, "and, though the sales of 

 every succeeding year since have been sufficient to cover 

 the original cost, the number of plates has not appre- 

 ciably diminished." 



When this larger venture failed, one of the pub- 

 lishers, who was not satisfied with the surplusage of 

 books and plates left on his hands, is said to have placed 

 encumbrances upon the Audubon estate. At about this 

 time John W. Audubon's health broke down; "Worn 

 out," as his daughter has said, 9 "in body and spirit, over- 

 burdened with anxieties, saddened by the condition of 

 his country, it is no matter of surprise that my father 

 could not throw off a heavy cold which attacked him 

 early in 1862." He died at the age of forty-nine, on the 

 18th of February of that year. 



John Woodhouse Audubon, like his brother, Victor, 

 had inherited decided artistic abilities, and from a youth 

 had been his father's assistant, field companion and 

 friend. Victor Audubon, on the other hand, was never 

 a field collector, but aided his father more in a financial 

 and secretarial capacity. Both in adult life were fond 

 of music and good cheer, and at one time John was 

 probably as devoted to adventure and sport as his father 

 had ever been in his palmiest days. One of his youthful 



Tii- i l 



"Maria R. Audubon, op. cit. 



