62 LEADING AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE 



etch the plates. The remuneration could not have been great 

 and the profits were lessened by the labor that was necessary to 

 bring the plates up to the author's ideal. In fact Lawson told Ord 

 that he found frequently his reward did not amount to more than 

 fifty cents a day, but he was so anxious to encourage his friend 

 that he made no complaint and his work was in a great measure 

 a labor of love. In planning for the publication Wilson no doubt 

 derived great benefits from his association with Bradford and 

 Company and it was of course this house which was to issue the 

 work. 



In the autumn of 1808, with a sample copy of volume one, he 

 started upon a personal canvass of the country for the two-hundred 

 and fifty subscribers which were considered necessary before the 

 publication could be seriously prosecuted, the subscription price 

 being $120. Traveling by stage and on foot he visited Princeton, 

 New York, New Haven, Boston and Portland Maine, and re- 

 turned by way of Dartmouth College and Albany, stopping at all 

 the smaller towns on the way where possible subscribers might be 

 found. 



His success was varied; scientific men of means subscribed as 

 did many prominent citizens interested in the advancement of 

 literature and science. Many others, however, while lavish in 

 praise of his beautiful pictures were appalled at the price and 

 still others seemed to totally lack appreciation of the merits of his 

 work. Governor Tompkins of New York, afterwards Vice- 

 President of the United States, said, "I would not give a hundred 

 dollars for all the birds you intend to describe, even had I them 

 alive." 



Such rebuffs must have been hard to bear, but Wilson had 

 plenty of pluck and his letters home while avoiding any mention 

 of his success are full of descriptions of the places he visited. 

 Every spot of historic interest inspired him with respect. He vis- 

 ited Bunker Hill with a feeling of veneration and was surprised 

 that the people living in the vicinity did not seem to share it. 



Upon his return to Philadelphia Wilson set out almost immedi- 

 ately upon a southern tour, visiting Washington, Charleston, and 



