Oppenheimer Field Museum Edition
Audubon's Fifty Best Birds
Birds of America
The Oppenheimer Field Museum Edition of Audubon's Fifty Best is the first
facsimile edition to accurately replicate the quality of the first Audubon edition
of Birds of America completed in the 1830's. This publication achieves
an esthetic quality that we can endorse as comparable to the originals. This remarkable
similarity to the hand-colored Havell engravings cannot be overstated.
State-of-the-art digital imaging and printing are being utilized to create the full-sized
double elephant folio prints. Conventional photography and film are not used in
this process; scanning is done directly from the original engraving in The Field
Museum folio. As many as ten proofing stages are involved before a finished print
is accepted. Nothing has been spared in the production of this edition which will
take two years and nearly a million dollars in printing costs alone, to complete.
Joel Oppenheimer, President of Kenyon Oppenheimer, Inc.
says:
"Timing is everything. There are several important reasons why this was the perfect
time in history to remake Audubon's Birds of America. When I first approached Ben
Williams, Field Museum Librarian, with the idea of publishing Audubon¹s Fifty Best©
from the world famous Field Museum folio, he agreed with three stipulations. One,
that we utilize state-of-the-art Giclée digital printing; two, that the number produced
be strictly limited; and three, that there be no compromise that would, in any way,
inhibit the quality of the prints. Heretofore, this technique was not possible,
and the most prized possession of the museum rare book library would not have been
made available for such a purpose.
"The Oppenheimer Field Museum Edition of Audubon¹s Fifty Best© is the first facsimile
edition to accurately replicate the quality of the first Audubon edition of Birds
of America completed in the 1830s.This publication achieves an esthetic quality
that we can endorse as comparable to the originals. The remarkable similarity to
the hand-colored Havell engravings cannot be overstated.
"Each print is on Somerset velvet, an acid-free, cotton, and rag watercolor paper
imported from England. The bottom right corner bears the Oppenheimer Editions¹ embossed
stamp. The verso of each print is stamped, numbered and signed by The Field Museum
Librarian."
Audubon House Gallery of Natural History is the official
representative of Oppenheimer Editions, LLC in the
Florida area. Prices range from $1,500 to $9,000 per print. Complete sets of Audubon's
Fifty Best are currently $47,500.
View the images in the
Fifty Best Birds Gallery.