LIFE AT "MINNIE'S LAND" 211 



shall be yours or the boys'. I am anxious to do something 

 for the benefit of Victor and John, in addition to the treasures 

 I have given them and this is all I can do. . . . Employ 

 yourself now in drawing every quadruped you can lay your 

 hands upon. If you can find me a live Ermine, buy it in New 

 York. I must once more examine and study its change of 

 pUage. 



Don't flatter yourself that the quadrupeds will be child's 

 play. I have studied them all my life. We have much, both in 

 Europe and America, to learn on this subject. The skulls 

 and the teeth must be studied, and color is as variable as the 

 wind ; down, down in the earth they grovel, while we, in digging 

 and studying, may grow old and cross. Our work must be 

 thorough. I would as soon stick my name to a forged Bank 

 Note as to a mess of soupmaigre. 



The "Prospectus" of Audubon's "miniature" edition 

 of the Birds was as follows : 2 



" ; j i ; .- vs- - ' - * 



2 From last page of paper covers, in .which parts of the work were 

 originally issued. 



Below are the following notices: 



"Persons desirous of subscribing to the above work are respectfully re- 

 quested to apply to J. J. Audubon, 86 White street, Henderson Greene, 

 377 Broadway, or W. A. Colman, Broadway, New York; to /. B. Chevalier, 

 70 Dock street, or Orrin Rogers, 67 South Second street, Philadelphia; 

 C. C. Little or James Brown, Boston; /. P. Beile, or Geo. Oates, Charleston, 

 S. C. ; Gideon B. Smith, Baltimore; David Ridgely, Annapolis, Md. ; /. S. 

 Kellogg $ Co., Mobile, Ala." 



"S. H. Stevenson, Travelling Agent for Kentucky and Virginia; and 

 William A. Pierce for Pennsylvania." 



This first octavo edition of Audubon's Birds was issued by J. J. Audu- 

 bon, and J. B. Chevalier, Philadelphia, in 100 parts, of five plates each, 

 to be bound in 7 volumes, 1840-44. Complete sets in parts are now very 

 rare; previous to 1907 a set is said to have been sold for $500; in 1914 

 one was offered in Philadelphia for $750. The introduction to No 1, 

 is dated "New York, Nov. 1839," and the fifteenth number, beginning 

 volume ii, "N. Y., Aug., 1840." The first five volumes (1840-42) were 

 issued with the cooperation of J. B. Chevalier, lithographer, 70 Dock 

 Street, Philadelphia, but, according to Mr. Ruthven Deane, he was an 

 agent who received a commission on sales, and, for a time, a share in 

 the profits, but not a co-publisher with Audubon; it is also stated that 

 when misfortune visited Chevalier in later life, he was cared for by 

 Audubon or his sons, up to the time of his death. For fuller details, 

 see Bibliography, No. 4. 



