This is Plate CCCLXI (361) from the double-elephant folio Amsterdam edition of Audubon’s great work on American ornithology. The Audubon Amsterdam Edition was the first complete reproduction of John James Audubon’s original (1826-38) Birds of America Havell Edition. The reproductions were produced using color offset lithography and printed on watermarked 100% cotton rag acid-free paper. Only 250 complete sets of this limited edition were produced. This lovely engraving depicts a male (left) and female (right) Blue Grouse on a hillside. Audubon purchased a female specimen from Thomas Nuttall in October 1836, and had to rely on data from Nuttall and John Kirk Townsend, both naturalists who traveled to the Far West, in order to model the male. The full sheet measures 39-1/4 x 26-3/8". Watermark reads "G. Schut & Zonen [JR Monogram] Audubon [OT Monogram]."

References: Low, p. 183-4.

Condition: A+