(NATURAL HISTORY) Transactions of the American Philosophical

Sale 2324 - Lot 244

Price Realized: $ 3,750

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

WITH GIFT INSCRIPTION TO AUDUBON (NATURAL HISTORY.) Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. Volume IV. 12 plates. 4to, original paper-backed boards, moderate wear; front free endpaper torn, dampstaining on a few pages; uncut and unopened, bound with additional 42-page general index not called for in Evans; gift inscription on title page. Philadelphia, 1799

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

The gift inscription reads "From Jno Vaughan to J J Audibon, 3 Nov 1836." John Vaughan (1756-1841) was the American Philosophical Society's long-time treasurer and librarian. Audubon had launched his Birds of America series in 1827 and was nearing completion; he had been elected to membership in the Society in 1831.
The volume is of considerable interest beyond the inscription; it was issued early into Thomas Jefferson's long term as president of the Society, when he was still active and attending its meetings--soon running the United States would become a greater priority. It includes an article by Jefferson on plow construction ("The Description of a Mould-board of Least Resistance," pages 313-322); Joseph Priestley's "Experiments and Observations Relating to the Analysis of Atmospherical Air" (pages 1-10), and a rather disturbing piece by Dr. Benjamin Rush titled "Observations Intended to Favour a Supposition that the Black Color (as it is Called) of the Negroes is Derived from Leprosy" (pages 289-297). Audubon may have particularly enjoyed the three natural history plates: a jerboa facing page 124, a large folding plate of two rattlesnakes facing page 380, and a salamander plate facing page 280. Evans 35106.