These twelve plates are part of the 435 engravings that make up the masterpiece of John James Audubon (1785–1851), The Birds of America, published by subscription in England between 1827 and 1838. The naturalist’s watercolors, based on birds he observed and hunted along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, were reproduced as aquatints and hand-colored, giving them not only scientific value but also remarkable aesthetic qualities. The birds are depicted life-size, in a format of approximately 98 × 66 cm, making the first ornithologist of the New World also the creator of the largest antiquarian illustrated book in the world. The work earned him membership in the Royal Society of London.