214 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 
of the originals of his famous plates. To quote Dr. 
Coues: © 
In handling these drawings and paintings, of all degrees 
of completeness, one of sensibility could but experience some 
emotions he would not care to formulate in words . . . I was 
fairly oppressed with the sad story of poverty, even destitution, 
which these wan sheets of coarse paper told. Some of Wilson’s 
originals are on the fly-leaves of old books, showing binder’s 
marks along one edge. One of the best portraits, that of the 
Duck Hawk, is on two pieces of paper pasted together. The 
man was actually too poor to buy paper! Some of the draw- 
ings are on both sides of the paper; some show a full picture 
on one side, and part of a mutilated finished painting on the 
other. Some show the rubbing process by which they were 
transferred. They are in all stages of completeness, from the 
rudest outlines to the finished painting. 
I know full well that in 1804, when Wilson had fairly 
begun his work on birds, he was poor enough, but I 
hesitate to believe upon such evidence that he was too 
poor to buy decent drawing materials. Wilson doubt- 
less practiced economy in these matters as in everything 
else, through his ingrained habit of Scotch thrift, and 
he was probably quite as well-to-do then as five years 
before, when out of his slender earnings he was able to 
lay money aside.’ Later, to be sure, his modest savings 
were quite consumed by his Ornithology, and then Wil- 
liam Bartram came to his aid, even giving him a home 
in his own house. It is also wide of the mark to con- 
°See Bibliography, No. 43. 
™At Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on October 3, 1799, Alexander Wilson 
sent George Simpson, Esq., a State Treasurer’s check in favor of Joseph 
Brown for $475, to be entered to the credit of Mr. Brown as one install- 
ment on 38 shares of scrip in the new loan at eight per cent, in the 
names of Thomas Eyes, 14 shares; Alexander Wilson, 14 shares; and 
Kenneth Sewell, 10 shares. 
