196 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



Audubon's titles, postdate the year of publication as 

 printed on the plate itself. Conflicting legends, par- 

 ticularly on the earlier plates, which have often puzzled 

 collectors, are mainly due to one or another of the con- 

 ditions named. Nearly every plate underwent altera- 

 tions of some sort, but the various legends show con- 

 clusively whether the print belongs to a first or a subse- 

 quent impression. In the British Museum copy, the 

 younger Havell's first independent legend appears on 

 Plate Ixxvi (Virginia Partridge), as "Engraved, 

 Printed, & Coloured by R. Havell Jun^ 1830." The 

 word "London" was later added, but was eventually dis- 

 carded. After the senior Havell's death in 1832, the son 

 naturally dropped the suffix from his own name ; there- 

 after his brief designation of name and date became 

 gradually stereotyped. It should be noticed, however, 

 that when Robert Havell needed to reprint from plates 

 which were executed before his father's death, he would 

 frequently remove only the "Junior," -and let the orig- 

 inal date stand, so that legends like the following are 

 not uncommon: "Engraved, Printed, & Coloured by 

 R. Havell, London — 1831"; to avoid the lacuna, 



designation of place and date were, at times, erased also. 

 The naturalist's name underwent a different evolution 

 on the plates, but after 1880, the date of his election to 

 membership in the Royal Society, his designation gradu- 

 ally settled into the phrase : "Drawn from nature by J. J. 

 Audubon, F. L. S. F. R. S." (as in Plate Ixxxi, 1830) ; 

 accordingly, all plates which bear these titles, but an 

 earlier date, are second or later editions. The previous 

 hints, with examples to be given presently, will enable 

 collectors to determine whether a given plate is a first 

 or subsequent impression. 



Lizars' first edition of plates. Numbers i to x, bore 



