# Is "The Birds of America (octavo edition)" by John James Audubon a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Birds of America (octavo edition) by John James Audubon (J.J. Audubon, 1840) is identified by: The sole octavo edition of Birds of America that Audubon himself issued, in 7 volumes, royal octavo (about 10 x 6 the printed price in.), sold by subscription and completed over five years: volumes I-V imprinted New York: J.J.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The sole octavo edition of Birds of America that Audubon himself issued, in 7 volumes, royal octavo (about 10 x 6 the printed price in.), sold by subscription and completed over five years: volumes I-V imprinted New York: J.J. Audubon / Philadelphia: J.B. Chevalier, dated 1840, 1841, 1841, 1842, and 1842 respectively, and volumes VI-VII imprinted New York and Philadelphia: J.J. Audubon, dated 1843 and 1844
- Contains 500 hand-colored lithographic plates, 65 more than the double-elephant folio's 435, re-sequenced from the folio's plate order into standard taxonomic order
- Most plates were printed and colored by J.T. Bowen's Philadelphia studio, though plates 136-150 were produced instead by George Endicott of New York
- A complete first-edition set requires all 7 volumes, each with its correct individual imprint date, and all 500 plates present
- Publisher imprint reads J.J. Audubon
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | John James Audubon |
| Publisher | J.J. Audubon |
| Year | 1840 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The sole octavo edition of Birds of America that Audubon himself issued, in 7 volumes, royal octavo (about 10 x 6 the printed price in.)… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The sole octavo edition of Birds of America that Audubon himself issued, in 7 volumes, royal octavo (about 10 x 6 the printed price in.), sold by subscription and completed over five years: volumes I-V imprinted New York: J.J. Audubon / Philadelphia: J.B. Chevalier, dated 1840, 1841, 1841, 1842, and 1842 respectively, and volumes VI-VII imprinted New York and Philadelphia: J.J. Audubon, dated 1843 and 1844. Contains 500 hand-colored lithographic plates, 65 more than the double-elephant folio's 435, re-sequenced from the folio's plate order into standard taxonomic order. Most plates were printed and colored by J.T. Bowen's Philadelphia studio, though plates 136-150 were produced instead by George Endicott of New York. A complete first-edition set requires all 7 volumes, each with its correct individual imprint date, and all 500 plates present.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A genuine second octavo edition did not appear until 1856, issued by Audubon's son Victor G. Audubon after Audubon's own death in 1851, with further reissues -- including several through the Roe Lockwood & Son firm -- continuing into the 1870s until the original lithographic stones were destroyed in an 1870 fire. The most reliable check across these reprintings is the sky behind each bird: first-edition plates carry no colored background tint, while second and later editions add a stone-printed blue-green (occasionally beige) tint.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Birds of America (octavo edition)* by John James Audubon a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-birds-of-america-octavo-edition
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.