The Oologist. 



VOL. XII. NO. 4. 



ALBION, N. Y., APRIL, 1895. 



Whole No. U4- 



The Last Portrait of Audubon, Together With 

 a Letter to His Son. * 



By Dk. R. W. Shufeldt and Miss M. 

 R. Audubon. 



It is the celebrated artist Cruiks'hank 

 to whom the honor is due for having 

 made the first published portrait of 

 America's well-beloved ornithologist — 

 Audubon. The naturalist at that time 

 was about foi'ty years of age, and the 

 picture now destroyed by fire, was a 

 miniature. Inman also succeeded in 

 obtaining a fine portrait of him, which 

 is the one that was reproduced in his 

 Biography. His son John secured still 

 another, one of the most valuable now 

 in existence, it being a full-length with 

 his favorite dog at his feet. These three 

 porti'aits have been published and re- 

 published as engravings at various 

 times and in various places, so that 

 they are now well-known to all the 

 many readers of Audubonian literalure. 

 A thus far unpublished and another 

 greatly cherished portrait of the natur- 

 alist has been described in Scribner's 

 Magazine for July, 1876 (p. 835). This, 

 too, was painted by the fond hand of 

 the same son who painted the full-length 

 picture, to which we have referred 

 above. Finally, by the aid of a mirror. 

 Audubon made a small oil painting of 

 himself, and this jMcture has already 

 been reproduced in the pages of the 

 present magazine, with a description of 

 it. By those who have seen it, and by 

 members of the family, his immediate 

 descendants, this last has been pro- 



* This valuable article and portrait of Audu- 

 bon appeared in 'J'fte .1'// Vol. XI, No. 4. Octo- 

 ber. 1^94. and it's through the kindness of Dr. 

 Shufeldt and the editors of The Auk. that we 

 are enabled to present tin- same to the readers 

 of the Ooi-ocasT.— A'rf. 



nounced an excellent likeness. The 

 original is the property of Mrs. E. C. 

 Walker, Baton Rouge, La., and is the 

 earliest portrait of the naturalist known 

 to us. 



R ■ It is noAv the aim of the authors of 

 the present contribution to bring be- 

 fore the many readers of The Auk what 

 proves to be a portrait of Audubon 

 heretofore not given to the world. In 

 one way at least, it is of greater value 

 and interest than any of the other por- 

 ti'aits extant. — priceless as they really 

 are. The special superiority claimed 

 for it lies in the fact, that it is a, earner a- 

 portrait, and consequently portrays its 

 every line true to life. It was not so 

 very long ago when one of the writers 

 of this article discovered in the posses- 

 sion of Professor T. W. Smillie, the 

 well-known photographer of the United 

 States National Museum of Washing- 

 ton, a daguerreotype of Audubon, that 

 belonged to Mrs. Grimshaw, a daugh- 

 ter of Mrs. Nicholas Berthoud, and a 

 niece of Mrs. Audubon's, who had plac- 

 ed the treasure on deposit in the above 

 named institution. Mrs. Grimshaw 

 kindly consented to our having a pho- 

 tographic copy made of this daguerreo- 

 type, which was accomplished through 

 the consumate skill of Professor Smillie, 

 and with the courteous permission of 

 Doctor G. Brown Goode, the distin- 

 guished officer in charge of the Nation- 

 al Museum. From this excellent pho- 

 tograph has been made the admirable 

 plate which illustrates the present pa- 

 per. A picture so fine as this one sure- 

 ly requires no comments on the part of 

 its contributors to The Ank.\ it has but 

 to be seen by any of its readers to b»^ 

 admired. From all that we have been 

 able to gather, it would seem that this 

 daguerreotype was taken by Brady of 



