ஜோன் ஜேம்ஸ் ஆடவொன் அவர்களின் கைவண்ணத்தில் உருவாகிய "Birds of America" ~ (அமெரிக்கப் பறவைகள்) என்கின்ற தலைப்பிலான புத்தகத்தின் முழுமையான அரிய பிரதியொன்று £7.3 மில்லியன் ($11.5 மில்லியன் ~ 126 கோடி இலங்கை ரூபாய்) பெறுமதிக்கு லண்டனில் ஏலத்தில் கடந்த வருடம் டிசம்பர் மாதம் விற்பனையாகியுள்ளது. 19ம் நூற்றாண்டினைச் சேர்ந்த இந்த புத்தகத்தின் 119 பிரதிகளே உள்ளதாக அறியப்படுகின்றது. இவற்றில் 108 பிரதிகள் காட்சியகங்களுக்கும், நூலகங்களுக்கும் சொந்தமானதாகும்.
ஜோன் ஜேம்ஸ் ஆடவொன்((1785-1851) பறவைகள் தொடர்பான ஆராய்ச்சியாளர் மட்டுமன்றி சிறந்த ஓவியரும் ஆவார். ஜோனின் கைவண்ணத்தில் உருவாகிய பறவைகளின் ஓவியங்கள், "Birds of America" என்கின்ற புத்தகத்தில் இடம்பெற்றுள்ளமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கதாகும்.
ஜோன் ஜேம்ஸ் ஆடவொன், பிரான்ஸ் நாட்டிலிருந்து அமெரிக்காவுக்கு குடியேறியபோது தன்னை சுற்றியிருந்த சூழலில் பறவைகளின் வாழ்க்கை நடத்தையினை அவதானித்து அவற்றினை ஓவியமாகத் தீட்டினார். ஆரம்பத்தில் இவர் வரைந்த பறவைகளின் படங்களினை அமெரிக்கப் பதிப்பாளர் எவரும் பிரசுரிக்க முன்வரவில்லை.
கடைசியாக, அவர் வரைந்த ஓவியங்கள் "Birds of America" என்ற பெரியளவான தொகுப்பாக உருவாகியது.
இதற்கு முன்னர், 1989ம் ஆண்டு ஆடவொனின் ஒரு முழுமையான தொகுப்பு $3.96 மில்லியனுக்கு ஏலம் போனமையும் குறிப்பிடத்தக்கதாகும்.
இவரின் நினைவாக ஆடவொன் கழகம் 1905ம் ஆண்டு உருவாக்கப்பட்டது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கதாகும்.
A copy of the world's most expensive book, John James Audubon's 19th-century masterpiece Birds of America, is set for auction later this month and is expected to sell for up to $10m (£6.5m).
Only 120 complete sets of Audubon's 435 hand-coloured, life-sized engravings of America's birds are believed to exist today, with the majority (107) owned by institutions. The last full edition of The Birds of America, which went up for auction in 2010, sold for £7.3m at Sotheby's, breaking the world record for a single book. The new set was bought by the fourth Duke of Portland at some point after 1838 and is in "excellent" condition, said Christie's, through whom it is being sold.
The auction house has given the edition a guide price of $7m-$10m, leaving experts to wonder if it will break 2010's record when it opens to bids on 20 January in New York.
"Birds of America is most significant for its sheer beauty. It's a masterpiece of illustration," said Richard Davies of rare and used book specialist AbeBooks. "Aside from being famous in the rare book world, Birds of America has also immense historical and ornithological importance. Some of the birds John James Audubon painted are extinct and he also discovered new species."
Davies said that while the estimated value of the Duke of Portland set is "sky high ... [it] is in excellent condition [and] if the record does fall, then no one should be overly surprised because a rare book like this is recession-proof".
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Measuring over three feet in height and running to four volumes, The Birds of America was created by Audubon between 1827 and 1838. The illegitimate son of a French sea captain and his creole mistress, Audubon was an itinerant artist who travelled America's wilderness drawing the birds he loved. He was insistent that The Birds of America was made up of life-size illustrations, and that it showed all the known species of north America, making the finished volume "the greatest of all bird books, [and] arguably the highest achievement of ornithological art", said Christie's.
Whatever Birds of America is, said rare book dealer and author Rick Gekoski, "it isn't a book, not in any normal sense of the term". In fact, the volumes consist of "a large number of works of art – original hand-coloured engravings – bound together for ease of storage and reference," he said. "The format was chosen not out of any grandiosity but because it was Audubon's remarkable desire – and ability – to produce life-sized engravings of each bird. Thus the finches and cardinals have plenty of space in which to flit about, while the flamingo and trumpeter swan tilt their necks graciously inward and arrange themselves with some care. The effect of this is just terrific."
Picking up a copy of the "book" is a two-person job, said the dealer, who examined an edition at Sotheby's once prior to an auction. "The (very nervous) resident expert and I (gingerly) turned the pages together, him at the top and me at the bottom, and peeled them back (respectfully) into just the right conjunction with the rest of the plates," said Gekoski. "You have to be careful how you handle a gargantuan book worth more than 10 million dollars."
கடைசியாக, அவர் வரைந்த ஓவியங்கள் "Birds of America" என்ற பெரியளவான தொகுப்பாக உருவாகியது.
A copy of the world's most expensive book, John James Audubon's 19th-century masterpiece Birds of America, is set for auction later this month and is expected to sell for up to $10m (£6.5m).
Only 120 complete sets of Audubon's 435 hand-coloured, life-sized engravings of America's birds are believed to exist today, with the majority (107) owned by institutions. The last full edition of The Birds of America, which went up for auction in 2010, sold for £7.3m at Sotheby's, breaking the world record for a single book. The new set was bought by the fourth Duke of Portland at some point after 1838 and is in "excellent" condition, said Christie's, through whom it is being sold.
The auction house has given the edition a guide price of $7m-$10m, leaving experts to wonder if it will break 2010's record when it opens to bids on 20 January in New York.
"Birds of America is most significant for its sheer beauty. It's a masterpiece of illustration," said Richard Davies of rare and used book specialist AbeBooks. "Aside from being famous in the rare book world, Birds of America has also immense historical and ornithological importance. Some of the birds John James Audubon painted are extinct and he also discovered new species."
Davies said that while the estimated value of the Duke of Portland set is "sky high ... [it] is in excellent condition [and] if the record does fall, then no one should be overly surprised because a rare book like this is recession-proof".
Sign up for the Bookmarks email
Read more
Measuring over three feet in height and running to four volumes, The Birds of America was created by Audubon between 1827 and 1838. The illegitimate son of a French sea captain and his creole mistress, Audubon was an itinerant artist who travelled America's wilderness drawing the birds he loved. He was insistent that The Birds of America was made up of life-size illustrations, and that it showed all the known species of north America, making the finished volume "the greatest of all bird books, [and] arguably the highest achievement of ornithological art", said Christie's.
Whatever Birds of America is, said rare book dealer and author Rick Gekoski, "it isn't a book, not in any normal sense of the term". In fact, the volumes consist of "a large number of works of art – original hand-coloured engravings – bound together for ease of storage and reference," he said. "The format was chosen not out of any grandiosity but because it was Audubon's remarkable desire – and ability – to produce life-sized engravings of each bird. Thus the finches and cardinals have plenty of space in which to flit about, while the flamingo and trumpeter swan tilt their necks graciously inward and arrange themselves with some care. The effect of this is just terrific."
Picking up a copy of the "book" is a two-person job, said the dealer, who examined an edition at Sotheby's once prior to an auction. "The (very nervous) resident expert and I (gingerly) turned the pages together, him at the top and me at the bottom, and peeled them back (respectfully) into just the right conjunction with the rest of the plates," said Gekoski. "You have to be careful how you handle a gargantuan book worth more than 10 million dollars."
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