Special Collections recently received a gift of 31 19th century prints. Among the items in the gift are thirteen original John James Audubon hand-colored lithographs (20 1/2 in. x 26 1/2 in.) from the quadruped series, including the American Badger (pictured below) and Common Flying Squirrel.
Eleven prints are chromolithographs (16 1/2 in. x 21 1/2 in.) from the Bien edition of Audubon’s Birds of America (ca. 1858-1862), including Puffin:
These prints are amazing examples of early and mid 19th century printing. When the Bien edition of Audubon’s Birds was being produced, chromolithography was new, and Julius Bien of New York was a pioneer in this technique of color printing.