Audubon's
Travels in the Florida Keys and Key
West
A
guide to John Audubon's journey in the Florida Keys with
descriptions and observations from Audubon's
Ornithological Biography and paintings from
Audubon's Birds in America.
Introduction
This
website focuses on Audubon's journey in the Florida Keys
and Key West in 1832 and observations he made at the
time. Thirty bird portraits in Audubon' s Birds of
America series are examined within this website as it
traces Audubon's journey in the Keys. His wonderful
detailed descriptions and written accounts of his journey
have contributed greatly to an historic appreciation of
the Florida Keys.
Audubon's
journey throughout the Florida Keys is portrayed for the
most part on these web pages in his own words. Pictures
and descriptions of the birds he drew together with
observations about the Keys are taken from his various
volumes of his Ornithological Biography and from
his Birds of America series.
Audubon's
complete Ornithological Biography consisted of five
Volumes published between 1832 and 1839 and contain over
3000 pages. The Biography contains detailed accounts of
all birds pictured in Birds of America together
with each bird's history, habits and habitat and
technical descriptions of the bird. Many people believe
that Audubon's Birds of America is the greatest
illustrated bird book ever produced.
To travel
throughout the United States and record in natural size
every native bird then known was the realization of
Audubon's dream. Audubon made drawings; then did each
painting in watercolor and oil. These paintings were used
to make etchings on copper plates to produce prints that
were hand colored.
Audubon's
method of portraying birds utilized a wire frame or
armiture to hold the bird specimens in a lifelike
position. The posed bird was placed against a background
sheet of paper which had been sectioned off into measured
squares. Audubon then sketched each bird onto his drawing
paper which had also been marked off into similar
squares. Using this method he was able to portrtay birds
in flight, feeding, at play, in all manner of lifelike
poses, and represent each species in
". .
. their most constant and natural
associations."
The 435
double-elephant folio sized plates in Birds of
America printed by the Havells of London depict some
1,065 different species. The majority were drawn from
specimens captured by Audubon himself. The original
edition was printed on handmade rag paper. In New York in
the year 2000, a complete copy of Birds of America
sold for $8,802,500. Individual plates from the
original Havell edition generally sell for between $5,000
and $175,000 depending on the image.
Ornithological
Biography
Audubon's
Ornithological Biography is comprised of five
volumes that run almost 3000 pages in length. It contains
scientific descriptions of each bird species as well as
which served as an informative supplement to the
subscribers of the plates in Audubon's Birds of
America.
Navigation
The
navigation bar on the left of this page provides all the
links that you will need to navigate this website. The
links to birds and places visited are organized from top
to bottom in the general order of Audubon's observations
and manner of travel, but the exact order for all of of
Audubon sketches is unknown.
The
Navigation bar also includes links to vendors and
sponsors who support this site through affilations. You
will find links to affilates that supply Audubon
prints
and books,
a link to this website's Online
Store
for birding that supplies more
than 6,000 items relating to birds and nature,
and links
to birding
guides
and accommodations
in the Florida Keys. A link to a list of nature
photographers
who have bird photos for sale is also
included.
A
Brief Audubon Biography - 1785 to 1832
At
birth in 1785 , John James Audubon, was given the name
Jean Rabine. He was the illegitimate son of Jean Audubon
and Jeanne Rabine. The father, Jean, a sea captain and
adventurous sort with the ladies had met Jeanne Rabine,
while traveling to a plantation he owned on the island of
Santo Domingo. Jeane Rabine had committed to work as a
service girl elsewhere, but instead became a guest on the
Audubon's plantation.
John
James Audubon was born in Les Cayes, Haiti on 26 April
1785. Jeanne Rabine died before Audubon was a year old,
and therefore young "Audubon" was tended to by a quadroon
named Catherine Bouffard, who was the plantation
housekeeper and also mistress to the father. Audubon's
father left Santo Domingo and returned to France and his
French wife, Anne Moynet Audubon, because of unrest and
rebellion on the island. He had Audubon brought to France
where he was raised by Anne Moynet, his stepmother.
Audubon was legally adopted and given the name, John
James Audubon.
Audubon
lived in France from 1788 to 1803. In 1803 he was sent to
the United States to manage an estate that his father had
bought in Pennsylvania, and to avoid being drafted into
Napoleon army. Audubon came back to France in 1805, but
returned to the United States in May 1806, and married
Lucy Bakewell in 1808. Over the next 12 years in the
United States, Audubon moved from career to career
without success.
As a
young man Audubon had interests in drawing and the
outdoors. His stepmother encouraged these pursuits The
family saw to it that he was educated among the
well-to-do. At age 15 Audubon was drawing French birds,
and by age 17 was studying drawing in Paris with Jacques
Louis David. Thus Audubon developed the skills necessary
for creating his masterpiece, the Birds of America
which he began In 1820. From that point onward, John
James Audubon spent most of his lifetime painting
birds.
By 1832
Audubon had achieve wide recognition. The first pictures
of his series of Birds of America had already been
published. His exploration of the Florida Keys was made
easier by an order of the Secretary of Navy to make the
Revenue Cutter Marion available to Audubon.
Audubon
on Audubon - "Audubon's Story of his
Youth"
For an
Autobiography by John Audubon written when he was older
and found
accidentally in an old calfskin-bound volume where for
many years they had been hidden go to Audubon
Autobiography
Audubon's
Journey in the Florida Keys
CLICK
HERE
for a map of Audubon's journey together with his general
itinerary along with a list of this website's page links
to the the birds Audubon observed and painted in the
Florida Keys.
LODGING
- ACCOMMODATIONS - ATTRACTIONS - ACTIVITIES
