The world’s most expensive bird book? It’s a Double Elephant, apparently…
Colleagues and associates of the Blogbrary will doubtless be aware that he is fabulously wealthy. What they may be unaware of, however, is that that he is something of a `Bexley birder` in his spare time, never happier than splashing through the vales and marshes of our beloved Borough in search of a parakeet (lots at Hall Place), an angry jay (some at St Paulinus churchyard in Crayford), or a furze-wren* (recently sighted in Bexleyheath town centre).
Imagine his delight, then, when he learned recently that the world’s most expensive bird book was about to be put on the market by Sotheby’s….
Audubon’s Birds of America…”I must have it!” I cried, “it’s a snip at £6 million…”
(It’s being sold, apparently, by the family of the late Lord Fermor-Hesketh, a fellow after my own heart who only collected “the very best of the best”).
Haitian born, John James Audubon (1785-1851) is the most famous – and collectable – bird painter in history. He travelled across America, shooting birds, then hanging them on wires prior to painting them full-size…his books, therefore, are “whoppers”, lavishly bound on a huge scale – what we call “Double Elephant Folios”** in the bookbinding trade. Mr Audubon was also something of a rogue, it seems, in his business practices. He would ply his wealthy patrons with booze, before selling them a copy at a huge profit “for the good wine had a most desirous and direct effect upon my client” he confided in his ledger…
Well, dear readers, to cut a long story short…alas, I was unable to ‘rustle up’ the required £6 million, so I turned – naturally – to the online catalogue of my beloved Bexley Libraries; imagine my delight at discovering that we have a copy in stock! Here! In Bexleyheath Central Library! It’s not the original, of course…And you can’t borrow it…And it’s been valued at considerably less than £6 million…But nonetheless, it’s what we in the library trade call “an absolute corker!”
Colleagues and associates of the Blogbrary will doubtless be aware that he is fabulously wealthy. What they may be unaware of, however, is that that he is something of a `Bexley birder` in his spare time, never happier than splashing through the vales and marshes of our beloved Borough in search of a parakeet (lots at Hall Place), an angry jay (some at St Paulinus churchyard in Crayford), or a furze-wren* (recently sighted in Bexleyheath town centre).
Imagine his delight, then, when he learned recently that the world’s most expensive bird book was about to be put on the market by Sotheby’s….
Audubon’s Birds of America…”I must have it!” I cried, “it’s a snip at £6 million…”
(It’s being sold, apparently, by the family of the late Lord Fermor-Hesketh, a fellow after my own heart who only collected “the very best of the best”).
Haitian born, John James Audubon (1785-1851) is the most famous – and collectable – bird painter in history. He travelled across America, shooting birds, then hanging them on wires prior to painting them full-size…his books, therefore, are “whoppers”, lavishly bound on a huge scale – what we call “Double Elephant Folios”** in the bookbinding trade. Mr Audubon was also something of a rogue, it seems, in his business practices. He would ply his wealthy patrons with booze, before selling them a copy at a huge profit “for the good wine had a most desirous and direct effect upon my client” he confided in his ledger…
Well, dear readers, to cut a long story short…alas, I was unable to ‘rustle up’ the required £6 million, so I turned – naturally – to the online catalogue of my beloved Bexley Libraries; imagine my delight at discovering that we have a copy in stock! Here! In Bexleyheath Central Library! It’s not the original, of course…And you can’t borrow it…And it’s been valued at considerably less than £6 million…But nonetheless, it’s what we in the library trade call “an absolute corker!”
And don’t forget, we’ve got a splendid collection of other bird books too…take a gander. Audubon’s book may have cost £6 million, but these are all FREE to borrow! Can you recommend any good bird books to other readers? Let us know, and we’ll Tweet about them.
And, while we’re at it…what’s the most valuable book you’ve ever read? Either financially or emotionally. Just post your comments in the box below.
* The furze wren (Sylvia undata), by the way, is another name for my beloved Dartford Warbler.
** And ‘Double Elephant’ refers to the size of paper…generally 40 X 26.5 inches.
So now you know.
TTFN
TTFN
