Under a Wild Sky (61 page)

191
   
One evening, he instructed a class
Buchanan,
The Life and Adventures of John James Audubon
, pages 98–99.

192
   
On hot afternoons, the Audubons would ride together
Streshinsky,
Audubon
, page 155. Audubon discreetly recalled his happiness at watching Lucy bathe her “gentle form.”

192
   
Some field notes that Audubon had mailed
Audubon to Charles-Lucien Bonaparte, January 12, 1825 (American Philosophical Society). (The society has a collection of microfilm copies of Bonaparte's correspondence. The originals are in the Bibliothèque, Museum Nationale d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris.)

192
   
Thinking he was speaking confidentially
Ford,
John James Audubon,
page 158.

192
   
Haines—rather stupidly, the prince said
Ibid.

192
   
Visiting a nearby pond
Audubon, “Observations on the Natural History of the Alligator.”

192
   
Audubon had an equally dicey experience
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 155.

193
   
In the spring of 1826
Ibid., page 159.

193
   
Lucy, supportive but perhaps irked
Ibid.

193
   
Having some time before the ship was ready
Ford (ed.),
The 1826 Journal of John James Audubon
, page 16.

193
   
He got in to see the governor
Ibid., page 17.

193
   
Audubon had seen Nolte on the street
Corning (ed.),
Journal of John James Audubon, 1820–1821
, page 158.

193
   
By far the more valuable of the two
Ford (ed.),
The 1826 Journal of John James Audubon
, page 18.

193
   
On May 17, 1826
Ibid., page 20.

194
   
Once clear of land
Ibid.

194
   
While he stayed up on deck
Ibid., page 21.

13. EDINBURGH

195
   
It was raining when Audubon stepped onto the wharf
Ford (ed.),
The 1826 Journal of John James Audubon
, page 81. As in the preceding chapter, a surviving Audubon journal is the principle source for much of the material in this chapter. Except where indicated otherwise, the story related here is from the 1826 journal, but I have provided selective individual citations to it for significant quotations and important episodes. Rightly skeptical readers will note many instances in which I have characterized Audubon's thoughts and feelings. This is possible because the 1826 journal—a remarkable document—is highly revealing as to Audubon's state of mind. Depressed and alone in a strange country, Audubon confided his innermost emotions to his journal, a record that, if anything, is more dramatic and subjective than any representation I have made of its content.

197
   
Several times as he walked through town
Ibid., page 85.

198
   
The Rathbones, both Richard and William
Ibid., page 82. This information is not, strictly speaking, part of Audubon's journal. Rather it comes from one of the many invaluable biographical notes supplied by Alice Ford throughout the text of the journal.

199
   
One of these was William Roscoe
Ibid., page 96.

199
   
On Monday, July 31
Ibid., page 111. Among the throngs in attendance at the exhibition were some critics, a title Audubon said possessed a “savage” aspect.

200
   
Edward Stanley—Lord Stanley—was in a few years
Fisher (ed.),
A Passsion for Natural History
, pages 45–51.

200
   
As a young man he had studied Buffon's work
Ibid.

200
   
When Stanley was introduced and led into the room
Ford (ed.),
The 1826 Journal of John James Audubon
, page 121. Audubon said that, given the quantity of hair he possessed, this effect was truly startling.

203
   
As he walked along the banks
Ibid., pages 157–58.

204
   
Suddenly Audubon put down his pen
Ibid., page 147.

205
   
Still, he was disappointed
Ibid., page 169.

205
   
He wrote to Victor, who was still in Louisville
Audubon to Victor Audubon, September 1, 1826 (Beinecke). Two large collections of the letters Audubon wrote from 1826 onward are in the archives of the Houghton Library at Harvard University and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. A substantial selection—but not all—of these same letters was published in a limited, two-volume set edited by Howard Corning for the Club of Odd Volumes in 1930.

205
   
In a letter to Lucy
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, September 1, 1826 (Beinecke)

206
   
Manchester was much more crowded
Ford,
The 1826 Journal of John James Audubon
, pages 192–93.

206
   
Now he was much relieved
Ibid., page 199. Audubon, elated at finally getting mail from home, said that however “dull” Manchester was, it now contained “at least one happy individual.”

206
   
The actual plan, which had taken some time to coalesce
Ibid., pages 205–8. This portion of the journal was actually a copy of a letter to Lucy, dated September 17, 1826, which Audubon presumably sent. According to Alice Ford, letters such as this, which she has interspersed in chronological order throughout the text, were copied into Audubon's journal by a scrivener he hired for that purpose.

206
   
Recognizing that this last undertaking implied
Ibid.

207
   
If, for some reason, she could not come
Ibid. This odd suggestion that Lucy might not join him in England—and that he was prepared to support her wherever she wanted to live—seems to have come out of the blue. Perhaps they had discussed the possibility of separation previously, but the subject had never come up in Audubon's journal entries or letters until now. It would remain an often unstated subtext of their communication for the next couple of years.

208
   
A book made from his life-sized paintings
Ibid., pages 232–34. Audubon wrote in his journal that he planned to follow Bohn's advice. As Alice Ford notes, parenthetically, Audubon in the end pretty much ignored Bohn's advice. Bohn was certainly correct that Audubon's drawings, if bound into volumes at full size, would be enormous books. A standard, leather-bound volume of the original double-elephant folio stands nearly four feet tall, is over two and a half feet wide, a couple of inches thick, and weighs in at around fifty pounds. Bohn's worry that such volumes would, as he put it, “encumber the table” proved groundless, as many owners had special cabinets build to house
The Birds of America
.

210
   
Edinburgh, Audubon declared, was
Ibid., pages 301–5.

210
   
The city was arranged on two parallel hilltops
Personal observation. In March 2003, I visited Edinburgh to conduct research on Audubon's time there, and to explore the city itself, which is not very much altered in its general appearance from the 1820s. At the special collections department of Edinburgh University Library, I photocopied an 1831 map of the city—produced for the Post Office and engraved on steel by William Home Lizars—which proved perfectly serviceable for navigating the streets of Edinburgh today.

210
   
Home to artists and architects
Cosh,
Edinburgh
, pages 56–57.

210
   
The origins of the modern age
Ford (ed.),
The 1826 Journal of John James Audubon
, page 301. Audubon said that as his coach passed near Scott's home, he strained for a glimpse of it.

210
   
He had breakfast at ten
Ibid., pages 303–4. The boardinghouse on George Street, operated by Mrs. Dickie, was a four-story stone building that stood on the corner of the square. This location is now occupied by a modern building housing the Bank of Scotland.

211
   
He hinted darkly that he now and then worried
Ibid., pages 305–6.

211
   
Named for Jameson's mentor
From
Minutes of the Wernerian Society
, vol. I

212
   
Audubon got a brusque reception
Ford (ed.),
The 1826 Journal of John James Audubon
, page 304.

212
   
The “Sir” was William Jardine
“Note.”
Dover Pictorial Series: 286 Full-Color Animal Illustrations from Jardine's “Naturalist's Library,”
page iii.

212
   
He wrote to Victor at Louisville, telling him how fine
Ford (ed.),
The 1826 Journal of John James Audubon
, pages 319–23. Another letter, this one dated October 29, 1826, was recorded in the journal by Audubon and presumably copied and sent.
In it, Audubon reasserts his contention that Edinburgh is the most beautiful city in the world.

213
   
He'd even had two of his paintings exhibited
Bryan,
Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers
, vol. II.

213
   
But his father's death a year later
Ibid.

213
   
Lizars had a thriving business
Mr. [?] Greville to William Jardine, January 6, 1829 (Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections).

215
   
One of the people who called that day
Ford (ed.),
The 1826 Journal of John James Audubon
, pages 335–36.

216
   
There was again discussion as to how big
Ibid., page 347. Another journal letter, this one to William Rathbone in Liverpool, dated November 24, 1826.

216
   
Set in the middle of the enormous sheets
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, December 21, 1826 (Beinecke).

216
   
The Birds of America
,
it stated
Herrick,
Audubon the Naturalist
, vol. II, pages 386–88. Audubon issued several versions of the prospectus as the project moved forward over the years. But these essential elements were featured in each one. Herrick here reproduces the 1828 prospectus.

217
   
The way his luxurious hair was pulled back
A portion of Syme's portrait appears on the cover of this book.

217
   
One who was then popular was
“Charles Waterton: Naturalist,” pages 1–40. This pamphlet, from 1880, was written by James Simson, and is at the Edinburgh University Library Special Collections department.

218
   
Instead, he wrote about the turkey buzzard
“Minutes of the Wernerian Society,” December 16, 1826 (Edinburgh University Library Special Collections department).

218
   
It faced the street
Personal observation. It was still called “Edinburgh College” when Audubon visited. Today, Edinburgh University sprawls well south of the original building, now commonly referred to as “The Old College.”

219
   
The Wernerians met in a long room
Ford (ed.),
The 1826 Journal of John James Audubon
, page 396.

219
   
When Audubon walked in
Ibid.

219
   
It was substantial, occupying thirteen typeset pages
Audubon, “Account of the Habits of the Turkey Buzzard.”

219
   
While it is the case that most bird species
Sibley,
The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior
, page 36.

220
   
The minutes from the meeting instead
“Minutes of the Wernerian Society,” December 16, 1826 (Edinburgh University Library Special Collections department).

220
   
At the conclusion of the session
Ibid.

220
   
Just before Christmas of 1826
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, December 21, 1826 (Beinecke).

221
   
Audubon thought the boys would benefit
Ibid.