INTRODUCTION 



1 HE Journals of Audubon which are printed in these 

 two volumes are, so far as is known, the only Diaries of his in 

 existence. Some years ago the family destroyed all the manu- 

 scripts which were in their possession. These two Diaries 

 cover two different periods of Audubon's life, twenty years 

 apart. They were given to the Museum of Comparative Zoology 

 of Harvard University, together with seven books of account, 

 through the generosity of Col. John E. Thayer, of Lancaster, 

 Massachusetts, in igij- The contents have never been pub- 

 lished, though some extracts from the 1820 Journal were 

 published in Volume 21 of the ^^Auk,'' the magazine of the 

 American Ornithological Union. The extracts themselves, 

 however, are not an exact copy of the original Journal . 



The first Journal covers the period from the twelfth 

 of October, 1820, to the thirty first of December, 1821, and 

 reports Audubon's journey down the Ohio and Mississippi 

 rivers, and part of his residence in Mew Orleans. It is a very 

 human document, written at odd moments and under difficult 

 conditions, and conveys, as nothing else can, an understanding 

 of the man. 



The second Journal covers the period from July ij, 1840, 

 to October 11, 1843, twenty odd years later than the first. 

 At this time his reputation was established, and he journeyed 

 over the country from Newburyport, Massachusetts to Rich- 

 mond, Virginia, and also in Canada, soliciting subscriptions 

 for the octavo edition of '^ Birds of America,'' and commenting 

 on the people whom he met. 



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