NEW HAVEN, CT.- John James Audubon’s masterpiece Birds of America is the subject of an exhibit opening at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History on Saturday, July 27. Audubon and the Double Elephant Folio will feature volumes 2 and 3 of the four-volume set, on loan from Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The exhibit will be on view through July 31, 2016 (13 months), on the Museum’s third floor, adjacent to its Birds of Connecticut exhibit.

The original edition of Birds of America, also known as the Double Elephant Folio because of its size, was printed on handmade paper with each volume measuring an impressive 40 by 27 inches. Bound in four volumes, it was published in Edinburgh by W. H. Lizars in 1826 and in London by R. Havell between 1827 and 1838. The two volumes set for display are from one of two Havell edition sets owned by Yale University.

The 435 illustrated plates in Birds of America—lifesize illustrations of 1,055 birds—were engraved and hand-colored. Published by subscription between 1827 and 1838, 135 of the 175 to 200 complete sets of plates still exist today. Audubon’s bird portraits are not only beautiful but also extremely detailed and scientifically accurate.

Several original copper plates from the Peabody’s ornithology collection will be on display as well, providing a glimpse into the folio’s printing techniques.

John James Audubon (1785-1851) was a pre-eminent American artist and ornithologist renowned for his ability to merge art and science, and for his uneasiness about the destruction of nature. Born in what is now Haiti, he moved to the United States in 1803. When other careers didn’t materialize, he set out to study and illustrate American birds. For more than 10 years he drew and painted American birds, chiefly from life, ultimately portraying all species then known in the United States.