CHAPTEE XVIII 



THE SIGNATURE OF THE KING 



The spring of 1827 found Audubon in Scotland and 

 England, becoming famous and yet still poor, seeking sub- 

 scriptions for American Birds, the price to each subscriber 

 being two hundred pounds sterling, or about one thousand 

 dollars. 



His book, in whose pages the birds seemed to live in 

 their most delightful attitudes, had excited universal ad- 

 miration. It became the custom among titled and notable 

 people to offer Audubon receptions, dinners, and elegant 

 hospitalities wherever he traveled, and he became the social 

 lion of Edinburgh. The tales of Sir Walter Scott had 

 thrown their charm over him in the American forests, and 

 he hoped to meet the " Great Unknown," as Sir Walter was 

 called, with the thrilling enthusiasm that one feels whose 

 imagination makes gods of men. 



But he was miserably poor. Whether he would 



gain a competence for his work depended upon the number 



of subscribers he could secure. He was sometimes elated 



and sometimes suppressed in his efforts to act as his own 



agent. He sometimes dined from tables of gold and silver 

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