Welcome to Princeton Audubon Prints
World-class Audubon fine art
John James Audubon's Birds of North America
“True prints, true colors, incredible detail. Princetons are simply the finest Audubon facsimiles ever produced!” - William Steiner, Audubon print collector and author of Audubon Prints: A Collector’s Guide To Every Edition.
Our four primary Audubon fine art galleries ...
Welcome! Nature's always in style so bring home the calming beauty of a bygone era. The Princeton Double Elephant Edition - the world's only direct-camera edition - is said to be the finest Audubon print edition ever produced. Meticulously recreated from the originals (not from mere copies of originals) our collection thus offers a physical connection to Audubon's great life-sized work. We also feature the modern Rare Prints and Princeton Fine Art editions, both absolutely accurate re-creations of original Audubon prints. We guarantee your satisfaction. 100% money back guarantee if not satisfied for any reason.
Click here for a site index with Audubon references including informative videos. Contact us or chat below with any questions or special requests. 908.510.1621. Customer service, Why the name Princeton? How can I tell if my Audubon print is real? What are Audubon prints? What do the numbers mean?
The world's only direct camera Audubon prints!
Princeton Audubon Double Elephant Edition.
The Royal Society of London, where John James Audubon was a Fellow, displays our prints in Chicheley Hall, a 300 year old estate in Buckinghamshire, England which serves as the International Science Conference Center. A paper conservator addressed the crumbling portion of an original Havell Wood Duck by using the corresponding section of ours. Additionally, The New York Times featured our Purple Heron when rolling out their original online store. And Martha Stewart Living framed and featured our Snowy Owl. Universities have added our entire collection to their acquisitions. You can display these same prints in your home or office.
"The Princeton Collection reproductions of Audubon's birds offer an incredible value. The quality of color, definition and paper are fantastic and far beyond expectations." Ben Frishman, Audubon print expert and owner of Rare-Prints Gallery, Austin, Texas, USA.
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Audubon Prints 1/2 off Offer.
Feather your nest with these 4 premier Audubon prints!
The Essex New-York Historical Society Edition.
Louise Mirrer of the New-York Historical Society, "Princeton has faithfully reproduced the N-YHS original engravings in a collector's edition of stunning quality and brilliant color." Specially made fade-proof inks are pressed upon exceptional 100% rag, coated paper designed for critical art reproduction. It makes the ink "stand up" in order to faithfully capture the layered look and feel of Audubon's original production. Essex paper is produced here in America, in New Hampshire, at Monadnock Paper Mills, the oldest continuously operating paper mill in the country.
Nature's got style.
Princeton Fine Art Edition.
Exceptional double elephant (28 x 39) archival pigment prints (giclees) produced from our original Havells. The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is a limited edition of 200 prints. The Flamingo and Long-billed Curlew are editions of 500. The detail and color are incredible. The Long-billed Curlew is unique as Audubon included the 1832 harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Some buildings still exist.
$750.00
$750.00
AUDUBON PRINTS
Rare-Prints Double Elephant Edition.
Princeton Audubon is pleased to offer the Rare Print Edition archival pigment prints, commonly known as giclee prints. These are exact facsimiles of Audubon's original hand colored engravings. Using ultra high resolution images from top of the line digital cameras the Giclee' printer sprays ink on watercolor paper at up to 4,000 dpi. The result is a reproduction that has the color, detail and texture quality of the original. Each image is printed with archival ink on 330-gram Somerset Velvet Enhanced paper and some with beautiful deckled edges and are full-size facsimiles of an actual original.
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$1,900.00
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American Flamingo, edition of 500
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Rare Prints Virginia Partridge
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Exceptional Audubon Prints ...
I bought 5 full-size Audubon Birds of America prints from Princeton Audubon Prints. They’re perfect. Perfect paper. Perfect paper color. Perfect detail and colors in the artwork.
This print is absolutely incredible! I initially spotted smaller versions of this print online, but this full-size version from Princeton so much more impressive. Seeing it in person, I can't say enough about the detail of the print. This will now be a very special piece of art in my home. Thanks to Princeton for their customer service and their dedication to preserving this art.
We ordered 10 Audubon framed prints for our office. The response has been very favorable. The prints are large, impressive, colorful, and elegant. We are very pleased with the purchase.
C. Z. from Lafayette CA. on the Blue Crane ...
Couldn't be more pleased. The print itself is enough to enrapture me.
Needed a piece for the wall rather a large space. Wanted something different with a bit of color but not too much as well as a certain character which would enhance the other items in the room. This piece with the fantastic framing and the fine art work did the trick.
Superb in all respects. Well packed for shipping. Prompt delivery.
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What do the numbers mean? The number at top left of each double elephant is a group number. There were 87 groups of 5 prints each. The number at top right usually in Roman numerals is the individual plate number, from 1 to 435. Interestingly, plate numbers ending with 1 or 6 will be a larger bird or composition. Why? The first print in each group was generally a large bird or a full-page composition. Smaller numbers appearing next to birds within the image correspond to the type, sex or maturity of each bird as noted in the bottom script.
What do the abbreviations at the botton of the prints mean? "I am feted, feasted, elected honorary member of societies, making money by my exhibition and by my painting." John James Audubon. M.W.S. (Member of the Wernerian Society) F.R.S.E. (Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh) F.L.S. (Fellow of the Linnean Society) F.R.S. (Fellow of the Royal Society) Eng. *Engraved) Cold. (Colored)
Historical note: When setting forth on this great project, Audubon wrote "...nothing, after all, could ever answer my enthusiastic desires to represent nature, except to copy her in her own way, alive and moving!" Moments of drama in natural settings is the appeal of Audubon's life-size prints. "Having studied drawing for a short while in my youth under good masters, I felt a great desire to make choice of a style more particularly adapted to the imitation of feathers than the drawings in water colours that I had been in the habit of seeing, and moreover, to complete a collection not only valuable to the scientific class, but pleasing to every person, by adopting a different course of representation from the mere profile-like cut figures, given usually in works of that kind." - John James Audubon
How were Audubon's originals produced? These watercolor studies were then taken to Robert Havell's London shop as models. Havell then engraved and etched a reverse image of the watercolor study onto a copper plate, some plates being as large as 27 1/2 x 39 1/2 inches, and others being smaller for the smaller images. After these plates were black-inked, dampened paper was placed upon them, and both were pressed together. The paper was then pulled, or peeled, off the plate resulting in a properly oriented black and white image, no longer reversed. Each black and white print was then colored by a team of colorists employed by Havell, closely noting not only the watercolor studies, but also notes that Audubon himself often wrote upon the watercolors. These engraved and colored prints referred to as the Audubon originals. Most of these originals were then bound together in four leather books. Over the years many have been unbound and the binding holes trimmed away. Thus, there may be small variations in the above size. Further, the large borders of some smaller images were often trimmed away by owners, in order to fit their print into a smaller frame.
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Thank you for visiting Princeton Audubon Limited.
The Princeton Audubon Double Elephant Edition Audubon author and collector William Steiner, Audubon Prints: A Collector’s Guide To Every Edition, states “True prints, true colors, incredible detail! Princetons are simply the finest Audubon lithographs ever produced!” Why? Far beyond common reproductions, Princeton double elephants are the world’s only direct camera Audubon fine art prints. We purchased the actual originals and physically used them to produce this edition. A giant camera with film the same size as the print took a direct-capture picture of the original, and this exact image was transferred directly to the metal printing plates, giving you a one to one connection to the actual originals. The Royal Society of London, where John James Audubon was a Fellow, displays our prints in Chicheley Hall, a 300 year old estate in Buckinghamshire, England which serves as the International Science Conference Center. A paper conservator addressed the crumbling portion of an original Havell Wood Duck by using the corresponding section of ours. Additionally, The New York Times featured our Purple Heron when rolling out their original online store. And Martha Stewart Living framed and featured our Snowy Owl. Universities have added our entire collection to their acquisitions. You can display these same prints in your home or office. “Of all the full-size facsimiles of Audubon's prints, those from Princeton Audubon Ltd. come the closest in appearance and quality to the originals. Combining this with their very reasonable cost make the Princeton Audubon facsimiles winners for those looking to acquire some of the most dramatic American natural history images ever produced." - Chris Lane, Philadelphia Print Shop West, appraiser on Antiques Roadshow. “With their astounding detail, definition, and color, the Princeton direct-camera facsimiles have long set the standard in Audubon Birds of America lithographs." - Louise Mirrer, The New-York Historical Society.
Princeton Audubon Edition specifications. Double elephants (life size - 26 1/4 x 39 1/4) •Limited edition of 1500. •Pencil-numbered and embossed with the Princeton Audubon Limited seal. •Up to 11 color plates used. •Specially developed fade-proof inks. Absolute color fidelity to the actual original. •Printed on a 300 line. •Very heavy archival paper which is recommended by the Library of Congress for archives and is specially toned to match the actual color of the antique originals. •Registered to purchaser. •As permanently displayed at The Royal Society of London, to which Audubon belonged as a Fellow.
The The Rare Prints Edition The only giclee edition we sell alongside our own Audubon facsimiles. Like Princetons, these are reproductions of original Audubon Havells, not copies from 8 x 10 transparencies. Using ultra high-resolution images from top-of-the-line digital cameras the Giclee' printer sprays ink on watercolor paper at up to 4,000 dpi. The result is a reproduction that has all the color, detail and texture qualities of each original. These are truly beautiful pieces of art. Each image is printed with archival ink on 330 gram Somerset Velvet Enhanced paper and is a full-size facsimile of an actual original. The bird images measure approximately 26" x 40".
The Princeton Audubon Fine Art Edition Precision double elephant giclees or archival pigment prints produced from our own direct camera films and originals. Newly introduced, these are limited editions of 200 or 500 prints worldwide. This collection includes exceptional giclee or archival pigment prints of The Ivory-billed Woodpecker and The Long-billed Curlew, and The American Flamingo. Note: The three editions above, The Princeton Audubon Double Elephant Edition, The Rare Prints Edition, and The Princeton Audubon Fine Art Edition, are all double elephant facsimiles and can be displayed together.
The Princeton Audubon Essex NYHS Edition Reduced size lithographs produced by permission of The New-York Historical Society. These four prints are unique in their quality, paper, and size. Louise Mirrer, Director of the New-York Historical Society says, "Princeton has faithfully reproduced the N-YHS original engravings in a collector's edition of stunning quality and brilliant color."
The Princeton Audubon Baby Elephant Edition Reduced size. An exciting edition produced from the actual originals in a reduced size. Outstanding color and detail. In some cases, we used our own direct camera films to produce these prints. The reduced size allows for expanded display opportunities.
The Princeton Audubon Imperial Edition Direct camera fine art prints of Audubon’s popular quadrupeds. Princeton was the first company to produce same size fine art reproductions of these beautiful mammals. Measuring 21 x 28 inches, these are beautifully printed on archival Somerset paper which is imported from England.
AUDUBON ORIGINALS
Audubon Original Havells. 1827-1838.
Havells are the most desirable of all Audubon originals. Somewhat more than 200 complete sets were sold. The exact number was not accurately recorded, but most were bound in four large volumes for the subscribers. It is estimated that there are about 130 of the complete bound sets of these original prints still in existence.
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AUDUBON ORIGINALS
Audubon Imperial Test Sheets. 1845-1848
The Lord-Hopkins Collection, the last known prints from Bowen's studio.
Discovered in 1923 by Mary A. Guerrero Lord who was visiting her mother Henrietta Potter James, owner of the house on the corner of South 9th Street in Philadelphia and what is now known as Bonaparte Ct. Her home was earlier rented by Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s older brother and Audubon’s friend. These Imperial prints were bundled and abandoned in a back alley near Bowen's 1800's studio.
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AUDUBON ORIGINALS
Audubon Original Imperial Quadrupeds. 1845-1848
This incredibly detailed work is officially termed The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America and was published published in three volumes, dated 1845, 1846, and 1848. Rare, somewhat more that 303 Imperial sets were ever printed. They measure 21 x 28 inches.
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Original Imperial Polar Hare, plate 32
$3,500.00
AUDUBON ORIGINALS
Audubon Original Octavo Test/Pattern Prints. 1849-1854
Quadrupeds - The Lord-Hopkins Collection, the last known prints from Bowen's studio.
Discovered 100 years ago in 1923 by Mary A. Guerrero Lord who was visiting her mother Henrietta Potter James, who owned a house on the corner of South 9th Street and what is now known as Bonaparte Ct. in Philadelphia. Some of these prints have penciled in instructions from Victor Audubon. One has his signature. Others have Pattern written across the top. Many have worn corners, as one would expect from a print that was a touchstone for colorists.
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AUDUBON ORIGINALS
Audubon Original Octavo Bird Test Sheets. 1840-1871
The Lord-Hopkins Collection, the last known prints from Bowen's studio.
When the production of the double elephant prints was nearing its completion, Audubon began a new undertaking. This was to be a miniature edition of the Birds of America, accompanied by text. These are actual test sheets used by Bowen in his studio. Test sheets are uncolored. The condition is consistent with well referenced prints. The octavo paper is untrimmed (no binding holes) as these were only used in Bowen's Philadelphia shop. These are truly a fine addition to any Audubon collection.
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Audubon Print References
Audubon information you can use.
Print Identification and Authentication
Reproduced by permission of the author - Ron Flynn Is Your Audubon Print An Original?Illustrated Print Identification and Authenticationby...
Audubon Octavo Print “States” Versus “Editions”, Plus Valuations, Collecting, and the Marketplace.
Reproduced by permission of the author - Ron Flynn Audubon Octavo Print “States” Versus “Editions”, Plus Valuations, Collecting, and the...
A Brief Introduction to Audubon and the Original Editions
Reproduced by permission of the author - Ron Flynn A Brief Introduction to Audubon and the Original Editionsby Ron Flynn...
Do You Really Own A 1st Edition Octavo Quad Print?
Reproduced by permission of the author - Ron Flynn Do You Really Own A 1st Edition Octavo Quad Print?by Ron...
Print Identification and Authentication
Reproduced by permission of the author - Ron Flynn Is Your Audubon Print An Original?Illustrated Print Identification and Authenticationby...
Audubon Octavo Print “States” Versus “Editions”, Plus Valuations, Collecting, and the Marketplace.
Reproduced by permission of the author - Ron Flynn Audubon Octavo Print “States” Versus “Editions”, Plus Valuations, Collecting, and the...
A Brief Introduction to Audubon and the Original Editions
Reproduced by permission of the author - Ron Flynn A Brief Introduction to Audubon and the Original Editionsby Ron Flynn...
Do You Really Own A 1st Edition Octavo Quad Print?
Reproduced by permission of the author - Ron Flynn Do You Really Own A 1st Edition Octavo Quad Print?by Ron...