"Barn Owls." Chromolithograph on paper, Bien edition (posthumous), circa 1860, from "Birds of America", matted and framed under glass, the image size measuring approx. 34-1/4" x 22-5/8", and with the framing overall approx. 48" x 34-1/2".
After Audubon's death in 1851, his son, John Woodhouse Audubon, sought to reissue Birds of America. In 1858 he commissioned Julius Bien of New York, a pioneer in the new technique of chromolithography, to print an edition on paper similar in size to the double elephant. Some changes were made, including re-numbering of plates to correspond with the numbers in the Octavo edition, and changing some plates by grouping birds or changing backgrounds. Because of the financial and social upheaval of the Civil War, the project was never completed. Only one volume of 105 plates (150 birds) was produced, dated 1858, 1859, or 1860. Estimates of the number of copies vary from 15 to 100. Like the Bowen Octavos, the Biens were lithographs produced from stone plates. Instead of using a single plate to print a black-line image, the chromolithograph uses several plates, each applying a different color ink. The Bien Edition is the only major Audubon edition that is not hand-colored.
2,000/4,000 Sold $920.00
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