[166] See Rhoads ([Bibl. No. 231]), loc. cit.
[167] Ruthven Deane ([Bibl. No. 225]), The Auk, vol. xxv, p. 401 (1908).
[168] Eight in number, the aggregate cost of which was then $1,624: The Birds of America, with its letterpress, was offered at $1,000; library, or octavo edition, with reduced plates, in 100 Parts, at $100; The Quadrupeds of North America, 2 vols., folio, with 3 vols. text, in 8vo., $300; text of the same, according to binding, from $31 (paper) to $40 (full Turkey mor.); Birds and Quadrupeds, library ed., 10 vols., 650 plates, $150 to $160, according to style; Synopsis of Birds of America, $4; The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, 3 vols., text only, $9. See Mrs. Horace St. John, Life of Audubon ([Bibl. No. 71]), in advertisement inserted in volume. These prices were similar to those that prevailed during the lifetime of the naturalist.
According to Mr. Ruthven Deane, Audubon's account books show that on January 8, 1840, a box was sent to Dr. George Parkman, of Boston, containing a set of The Birds of America, in full binding, at $1,075; a set of the same, half bound, at $950; and the "Biographies" at $27.
The highest recorded price of The Birds of America is believed to be $4,350, which the Kemble set brought at auction at Philadelphia, in 1906 (See Prices Current for 1906); the highest price paid for a single plate, that of the Turkey Cock (Plate No. 1) upwards of $140; and the highest price asked for the octavo edition of the Birds (in original parts), $750. The Quadrupeds in 2 vols., original folio, now brings about $500.
[169] Ruthven Deane ([Bibl. No. 225]), loc. cit.
[170] For a copy of this minute, the substance of which was published in 1877 (See [Bibliography, No. 179]), I am indebted to the present librarian, Mr. Kelby.
[171] Jonathan Prescott Hall (1796-1862), eminent lawyer and jurist, was at one time district attorney for the southern district of New York, and author of Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of City of New York— 1828-29 (2 vols., New York, 1831-33). Mr. Hall was a subscriber to the octavo editions of Audubon's Birds and Quadrupeds.
[172] According to Lucy B. Audubon, ed., The Life of John James Audubon ([Bibl. No. 73]), from which we have drawn numerous extracts from his journals; see p. 381, under date of May 12, 1834.
[173] See Thomas M. Brewer ([Bibl. No. 79]), Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. lxi, p. 666 (1880).