John James Audubon, birds of America

This slim, elegant volume from German art publisher Taschen highlights some of John J. Audubon's most beautiful paintings. Audubon's complete plate collection (the elephant folio) contained hundreds of lushly colored copper engravings of every American bird species he could get his hands on. In this lovely book, you'll find more than 70 birds in plates remarkably true to the colors and detail of the originals. The Birds of America album is a terrific introduction to the life work of Audubon. --Therese Littleton