° "igig J Herrick, Audubon's Bibliography. 373 



ous Quadrupeds of North America' (3 vols, of plates only, 

 in folio); (6) 'The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America' 

 (3 vols, of text only, in octavo); (7) 'The Quadrupeds of North 

 America' (3 vols of revised text and plates of Nos. 5 and 6, in 

 octavo). Four of these, the folio 'Birds' and 'Quadrupeds,' 

 the 'Biography' and the 'Synopsis' enjoyed but one complete 

 edition under their respective original forms. Accordingly it 

 would seem a simple task to prepare a full, correct, and therefore 

 final bibliographic statement regarding so short a list. Such, 

 however, is far from the case, since the ' Birds ' and ' Quadrupeds,' 

 in their reduced and final form, appeared before, during and after 

 the Civil War, in numerous 'editions' or issues, which have proved 

 so difficult to trace that no correct account of them has appeared 

 up to the present time. 



While bibliographic details are about the last subject to which a 

 student of nature, with freedom of will unimpaired, would turn 

 for refreshment, in the present case they afford a certain modicum 

 of reward in biographical and historical interest; it is also apparent 

 that possessors of such valuable and attractive works as Audubon's 

 'Birds' and 'Quadrupeds' have proved, are entitled to know the 

 edition which their holding represents, as well as the time and cir- 

 cumstances which called it forth. 



In preparing the list, to which reference was made, the principal 

 public libraries in eastern America and western Europe were con- 

 sulted, but that, it seems, was not enough, since correspondents 

 in different parts of the country have pointed to certain errors and 

 omissions, proving that significant sets of these works are quite 

 as likely to be in private hands, or the smaller collections of books, 

 as in the classic shades of the metropolis. For this service I am 

 chiefly indebted to Rev. E. L. Shettles, of Brenham, Texas, and to 

 Messrs. Henry Brannon, of Portsmouth, Ohio, Edward H. John- 

 son, of Philadelphia, and Charles E. Stratton, of Boston. 



When we remember that large libraries have sometimes been 

 guilty of eliminating titles and reducing the number of volumes 

 which the author intended his work should represent; that Audu- 

 bon's 'Birds' and 'Quadrupeds' in octavo form, were issued to 

 subscribers in paper-covered parts that were liable to be dispersed 

 or lost during the long period of disorganization which followed the 



