98 



THE OSPREY. 



ing ; ' My God ! I never saw anything like this be- 

 fore.' " 



For two years Audubon was carrying his portfolio 

 from city to city in England, Scotland, and l-'rance, 

 and from the presence of one rich man's door to an- 

 other, to gather names enough on his list to sustain 

 the costly pub- 

 lication of his 

 'Birds of Amer- 

 ica.' It was the 

 largest and 

 most expensive 

 work of the sort 

 that had ever 

 been undertak- 

 en, and only 

 Audubon's en- 

 thusiasm and 

 tenacity of pur- 

 pose could have 

 conceived and 

 carried through 

 the immense 

 achiev em en t 

 When he re- 

 turned toAmer- 

 ica he had se- 

 cured one hun- 

 dred and forty- 

 four subscrib- 

 ers, and the 

 work was far 

 advanced in the 

 process of 

 prin ting. It 

 was published 

 in parts of five 

 plates each 

 ('elephant fo- 

 lio' in size), at 

 two guineas a 

 part; and when 

 completed 

 comprised 87 

 parts, giving 

 506 species and 

 1065 figures of 

 birds. About 

 one h u n d red 

 and seventy- 

 five copies are 



now known to be in existence, eighty of which are in 

 America. It is one of the few illustrated works, if 

 not the only one, an eminent ornithologist has said, 

 which steadily increases in price with the passage of 

 time. The rare copies now occasionally thrown on 

 the market command from $1,500 to $2,000. The 

 cost of printing the work was over $100,000. 



While managing the details of this large enterprise, 



Audubon was obliged to use the utmost diligence to 

 keep himself and his printers in funds. He found 

 quick sale for single drawings at remunerative prices, 

 and it was no unusual occurrence for him to sit 

 painting fourteen or even seventeen hours on a 

 stretch. Four hours of sleep sufficed him, and he 







z 



< 



loved to be up and out for a long tramp, or settled to 

 his day's labor, at three o'clock in the morning. It 

 was hard to adapt himself to the habits of ordinary 

 men, and he was restive and miserable in the gather- 

 ings where all eyes were sure to be riveted upon his 

 striking person. His English friends besought him 

 to have his hair cut and to put on a fashionable coat 

 before he appeared in London, .\fter one such earnest 



