Columbian Black Tailed Deer from the Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America

New York: John James Audubon, 1847. Hand-colored lithograph by J. T. Bowen of Philadelphia after Audubon. Sheet: (20 1/2 x 26 3/4 inches). "As long as our civilization lasts, America will be in debt to this genius." [Peterson]

"This beautiful Deer is found variously dispersed over the western portions of the North American continent, where it was first noticed by Lewis and Clark, near the mouth of the Columbia River; but not until the discovery of the golden treasures of California did it become generally known to white men." [Audubon] They are a subspecies of the Mule Deer, the difference being in the tail. Together, they are still found throughout much of the West. The Black-tailed Deer are common in Northern California but generally inhabit the Northern Pacific region. This fine plate is from the folio edition of Audubon's The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, produced entirely in the United States. The work was to be Audubon's last, and by 1846 he had to hand over the drawing of the last fifty or so plates to his sons, John Woodhouse and Victor Audubon. The final parts of this work of national importance were published after his death in 1851. The production of the Quadrupeds was begun by Audubon and his sons at about the same as the commercially-successful octavo edition of The Birds of America. Unlike the double-elephant folio, the Quadrupeds was produced entirely in the United States. Reese notes that "By 1843 the Audubon family business was a well-oiled machine, involving John James, his two sons, and various in-laws and friends. The octavo Birds was still in production when J. T. Bowen began to produce the plates for the elephant folio edition of the Quadrupeds, the largest successful color-plate book project of 19th-century America. It took the family five years to publish 150 plates in thirty parts. The massive project was a commercial success, thanks to the close management of Victor. There were about three hundred subscribers." [Reese]

Bennett, p.5. Peterson, Audubon's Birds of America. Reese Stamped With A National Character 36. Sabin 2367. Wood, p.209.