This marvelous edition of Audubons Birds of America displays all 435 of Audubons brilliant handcolored engravings in exquisite reproductions taken from the original plates of the Audubon Societys archival copy of the rare Double Elephant Folio. Although many attempts have been made to re-create the magnificent illustrations in Audubons masterpiece, nothing equals the level of fidelity or scale achieved in this high-quality edition. Completely reorganized and annotated by Roger Tory Peterson, who was Americas best-known ornithologist, and issued with the full endorsement and cooperation of the Audubon Society, this volume is the first to rearrange the plates in a more scientific order. Petersons fascinating introduction places Audubon in the context of the history of American ornithological art and also reproduces a wide sampling of the work of Audubons notable predecessors and disciples, including Petersons own justly famous paintings. This new systematic arrangement of the prints, complete with informative commentaries about each bird, made it possible to correct many of the problems or errors in Audubons original edition revealed by later scholarship.

Roger Tory Peterson has been regarded as Americas most notable ornithologist following the publication of A Field Guide to the Birds in 1934. Like Audubon, Peterson received many honorary degrees and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Honor. Virginia Marie Peterson is a scientist and an expert on the environmental effects of oil spills.