Below is a list of resources related to Audubon and The Birds of America, including books, catalogs, films, and music.
Original Edition
An original double elephant folio of The Birds of America: From Original Drawings by John James Audubon is available in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library for viewing.
Other Works by Audubon
- Audubon, John James. The Imperial Collection of Audubon Animals: The Quadrupeds of North America. (An online version is available for University of Illinois patrons.)
- Audubon, John James. Delineations of American Scenery and Character.
Audubon Websites
- Audubon’s Birds of America at the University of Pittsburgh
- Presents a digitized version of the complete double elephant folio set of Audubon’s Birds of America, accompanied by his Ornithological Biography.
- John James Audubon’s Birds of America
- Presented by the National Audubon Society, this site groups the birds featured in Birds of America according to ornithological family, state birds, and extinct birds.
- Champaign County Audubon Society: Local chapter of the Audubon Society. The Chapter puts on many bird-related events, including regular Sunday morning birdwalks.
Biographies
- John James Audubon: The Making of an American
- Richard Rhodes presents a well-rounded portrait of the Audubon Society’s namesake and the U.S. of the early frontier period.
- Under a Wild Sky: John James Audubon and the Making of the Birds of America
- William Souder describes the dramatic story behind The Birds of America.
Other Audubon Resources
- Documentary: John James Audubon: Drawn from Nature.
- This documentary provides a window into the life of Audubon, as well as the position of art and science in the early 1800s.
- Poetry: Commonwealth of Wings: An Ornithological Biography based on the life of John James Audubon, by Pamela Alexander.
- A combination of poetry, nature writing, and biography in a book-length persona-poem focused on Audubon’s life.
- Music: A Water Bird Talk: Opera in One Act. Freely adapted from On the Harmfulness of Tobacco by Anton Chekov and The Birds of America by John James Audubon, by Dominick Argento.
- A 45 minute vocal score with chamber orchestra and accompaniment arranged for the piano.
- Fiction: Creation: A Novel by Katherine Govier.
- This novel tells the story of Audubon’s voyage with his son to nesting grounds no ornithologist had ever seen, in the treacherous passage between Newfoundland and Labrador.