Audubon, John James "Azure Warbler" Plate 86

John James Audubon (1785-1851).  Plate 86.  “Azure Warbler.”  From The Birds of America.  New York: J. Bien, 1860.  Second edition.  26 3/8 x 20 ¼ (sheet).  Chromolithograph.  Very good condition.  A/A   The Bien edition featured many prints with two small birds printed on one double elephant folio sheet in order to make the project more economical.  Over the centuries, the two images were divided in order to have each bird framed individually.  Such is the case for this print.  John James Audubon, known both for his romantic life and his superb prints, is the most famous of all American natural history artists.  For his pioneering travel around the United States in search of new subjects in the wild, his lifelike and dramatic style, and his monumental works on the birds and quadrupeds of North America, Audubon is, perhaps, also the greatest American natural history artist.  In 1827 Audubon began to issue the prints from the first edition of his monumental The Birds of America, which