The American West, Fiction, Ivan Doig Archive, and More from Back of Beyond Books

The man known as the “father of American ornithology” is not, as you might expect, John James Audubon. Before there was Audubon, there was Alexander Wilson. He began publishing his nine-volume set American Ornithology; or the Natural History of the Birds of the United States, in 1808. This illustrated work has been justly called the first great American ornithology, and has also been called the first great American color plate book. It was this work that Audubon set out to surpass when he began work on his American birds, a little over a decade after Wilson died in 1813. The last two volumes were completed by Wilson's friend George Ord (a later supplement, not included, was added by Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon's ornithological nephew). Offered is a mixed set, dated 1808-1825. The first six volumes are first editions, 7-9 later issues. Item 86. $21,000.

Item 80 is a dinner menu from an undetermined location, the location undetermined because it was not stationary. It was created by the Pennsylvania Railroad, and it is the American Olympic Special July 19^th 1932 Dinner Menu. Athletes were traveling from New York to Los Angeles for the Olympics along the rails of the Pennsylvania, the Rock Island Line (she's a mighty good road), and the Union Pacific. It was a four-day journey, running from July 18 – July 21. This menu bears the signature of Giorgio Santelli, who was the U. S. fencing coach in 1932 and four other olympians. The logo on the cover has been cleverly incorporated into a drawing of a fencer. This copy came from the daughter of notable portrait photographer Nickolas Muray, who was a member of the 1932 fencing team. $500.

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