The Art of Audubon Two

The Birds of America is one of the best known natural history books ever produced and also the most valuable - a complete set sold at auction in December 2010 for GBP7.3 million, which is a world record for a book. First published in double elephant size (approximately a metre tall) in the first half of the nineteenth century, it is famous for its stunning life-size illustrations of birds set within landscaped backgrounds. The book was issued in parts over 11 years and only around 200 completed sets were ever produced. Less than 120 of these survive today, locked away in museums, galleries and private collections around the world. This second special edition boxed set from the Natural History Museum contains another 16 most sought after prints from Audubon's masterpiece. They have been created by disbinding one of the two original sets held by the Natural History Museum, London, photographing the prints using the latest digital technology, and then reproducing them as large as possible on the page and with the original numbering and captions faithfully recreated. On the reverse of each print is an excerpt from the Ornithological Biography that Audubon wrote to accompany the prints. From the beautiful blue winged yellow warbler and colourful scarlet ibis to the great brown pelican, each print can easily be framed and displayed at home, in the workplace or elsewhere. Presented in a shrinkwrapped presentation box, this is the perfect gift for bird enthusiasts and art lovers everywhere.

John James Audubon was a naturalist and painter and is considered one of the greatest bird artists of all time. Born in Haiti in 1785, he spent much of his life travelling North America observing, catching and drawing birds and animals in remarkable detail. Using a variety of materials to create a highly dramatic style, he painted almost 500 species of the 700 or so regularly occurring North American bird species.