Under a Wild Sky (62 page)

221
   
Instead, he asked her to tell him
Ibid. Who can read between these lines? Audubon suggested to Lucy that she talk the matter over with friends or even with Victor, and to then assess her own feelings and convey them to him. Whatever Lucy was saying in her letters at this time—they are long lost—Audubon clearly got the idea that she was reluctant to join him.

221
   
In late November she'd written her cousin
Lucy to Euphemia Gifford, November 29, 1826 (Beinecke).

222
   
Audubon continued to attend meetings
“Minutes of the Wernerian Society,” January 13, 27, 1827; and February 10, 24, 1827 (Edinburgh University Library Special Collections department).

222
   
The discussions at these sessions
Ibid.

222
   
On January 13, “John James Audubon Esquire of Louisiana”
“Minutes of the Wernerian Society,” January 13, 1827 (Edinburgh University Library Special Collections department).

222
   
At the same meeting, Audubon delivered
Ibid.

222
   
The group found the paper
Ibid.

222
   
But two weeks later
“Minutes of the Wernerian Society,” January 27, 1827 (Edinburgh University Library Special Collections department).

222
   
Two more weeks after that
“Minutes of the Wernerian Society,” February 10, 1827 (Edinburgh University Library Special Collections department).

222
   
He started off by suggesting
Audubon, “Notes on the Rattlesnake.”

224
   
Almost everything in Audubon's account
Klauber,
Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind
, vol. 1, pages 454–63. Although nearly forty years old, Klauber's book is regarded as an authoritative classic.

224
   
Rattlesnakes can climb trees
Ibid. Additionally, I am indebted to Dr. Harry W. Greene, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, Cornell University, who confirmed the numerous errors in Audubon's account.

224
   
The Wernerians were oblivious
Ibid.

224
   
It was suggested then
Ibid. Klauber reports this conjecture and also tacitly endorses it. But, for the reasons given in the text, I simply cannot believe that this was a case of mixed-up field notes. With or without notes, no one having spent as much time in close field observations of wildlife as Audubon had would have misremembered this episode. Whatever the case, it is ironic that so much enmity toward Audubon was focused on the very animal that engendered so much fear and so many fanciful notions.

224
   
For one thing, Audubon also reported
Audubon, “Notes on the Rattlesnake.”

225
   
Audubon had gotten word that Charles-Lucien Bonaparte
Ford (ed.),
The 1826 Journal of John James Audubon
, page 376.

225
   
In late December, he'd finally received a letter
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, December 22, 1826 (Beinecke). This letter was actually appended to the one dated just one day earlier.

225
   
Audubon, always concerned that he remain
Ibid.

225
   
He'd written to Bonaparte as soon as
Audubon to Charles-Lucien Bonaparte, August 31, 1826 (American Philosophical Society [Bibliothèque Nationale de Museum d'Histoire Naturelle]).

225
   
Audubon wrote again in early December
Audubon to Charles-Lucien Bonaparte, December 9, 1826 (American Philosophical Society [Bibliothèque Nationale de Museum d'Histoire Naturelle]).

225
   
He reiterated that he had sent
Ibid.

225
   
One of these letters came from
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 206.

225
   
Apparently Scott wasn't much impressed
Ibid.

225
   
When the coach halted in front of Dalmahoy
Ford (ed.),
The 1826 Journal of John James Audubon
, page 419.

226
   
In Edinburgh, Audubon also met
Ibid., page 354.

226
   
By May he had signed up
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, May 16, 1827 (Beinecke).

14. DEAREST FRIEND

227
   
London, one of the great cities
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, August 6, 1827 (Beinecke).

227
   
In fact, most of its almost 2 million residents
Weinreb and Hibbert,
The London Encyclopedia
, rev. edition.

227
   
Frustrated, he put the letters in the mail
Herrick,
Audubon the Naturalist
, vol. I, pages 377–78.

227
   
Audubon stayed briefly at an inn
Ibid., page 377.

227
   
He'd asked Lucy to show her copy
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, March 24, 1827 (Beinecke).

228
   
Audubon had spent April 5
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 209.

228
   
Departing Edinburgh, Audubon had traveled
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, May 1, 1827 (Beinecke).

228
   
Three subscribers had even signed up
Ibid.

228
   
Bonaparte was enthusiastic about
Ford,
J
o
hn James Audubon
, page 216.

228
   
Altogether, Audubon had landed
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, May 16, 1827 (Beinecke).

228
   
This was important, Audubon explained
Ibid.

229
   
If he could secure two hundred subscribers
Ibid.

229
   
Perhaps all of this was on Audubon's mind
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, March 24, 1827 (Beinecke).

229
   
While he was at Leeds
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, May 1, 1827 (Beinecke).

229
   
Reports of storms and shipwrecks
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, March 24, 1827 (Beinecke).

229
   
Lucy had written to say
Ford,
J
o
hn James Audubon
, page 208.

229
   
Audubon wrote back saying she should wear her hair
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, May 1, 1827 (Beinecke).

230
   
In March, addressing her as
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, March 24, 1827 (Beinecke).

230
   
Audubon told Lucy she must wait
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, May 16, 1827 (Beinecke).

231
   
One of the first persons he'd met on his arrival
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 211.

231
   
He invited Audubon to show his drawings
Ibid., page 212.

231
   
A proper gentleman, Children
Ibid.

231
   
On May 24, Audubon and Children made their way
“List of Visitors,” Royal Society Library.

231
   
The doorway to the society
Personal observation. I visited Somerset House in March 2003. The society is no longer located there, but its chiseled name still appears above the door and directly beneath a bust of Sir Isaac Newton.

231
   
The Royal Society, organized informally
“About the Foundation of the Royal Society,” a brief précis available to society visitors.

231
   
The society took an interest in
“Seapower, Science & Splendour: The Royal Navy at Somerset House,” a brief précis available to Somerset visitors.

231
   
The society had nearly seven hundred members
“Record of the Royal Society,” (1830).

231
   
As the meeting progressed, Audubon listened
“Minutes,”
Journal Book of the Royal Society
, vol. XLV (1827–1830).

232
   
He may have relaxed a little
“List of Visitors,” Royal Society Library.

232
   
In mid-June, Lizars informed him
William Lizars to Audubon, June 16, 1827 (Beinecke).

232
   
Lizars confided that all this was partly because
Ibid.

232
   
Lizars pleaded with Audubon
Ibid.

232
   
In one letter, Audubon said he had no doubt
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, June 20, 1827 (Princeton University Library).

232
   
Here in such a “Civilized Country,” he wrote
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, May 15, 1827 (Princeton University Library).

232
   
Audubon asked Lizars to send down
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, August 6, 1827 (Beinecke).

233
   
A questionable version of what happened next
Herrick,
Audubon the Naturalist
, vol. I, pages 382–84. The story of Audubon reuniting the estranged Havells evidently originated with an account written by George Alfred Williams for
The Print-Collector's Quarterly
in 1916. Herrick, who published his biography of Audubon the following year, acknowledged Williams as the source of this information. Alice Ford repeated the same facts. Shirley Streshinsky toned it down considerably, dispensing with the reunion of the Havells altogether—but adding a dubious scene in which Audubon supposedly kissed both Havells on the cheeks. Frankly, any of this could be true. But for me, it seems too precious by half, and the contradicting evidence is hard to ignore. Suzanne M. Low, in her superb book,
A Guide to Audubon's
Birds of America, states categorically that while two versions of the prothonotary warbler were made, both were by Lizars. Herrick, too, had questioned this part of the tale. Then there is the matter of Robert Havell & Son existing as a going concern as early as 1823. While this doesn't rule out the possibility of a rift prior to Audubon's arrival, it undermines the claim that the partnership was first forged in Audubon's presence. Finally, common sense is against the legend. If the elder Havell's insistence that his son pursue some other line of work was so powerful that they had parted ways over it, then why would the elder Havell have changed in mind on the spot so that his son could take up an engraving project that might take ten or even fifteen years to complete? If he wanted the kid out of the business, this was no way to accomplish it. (See also the six notes directly following.)

233
   
For years he'd worked in partnership
Williams, “Robert Havell, Junior.”

233
   
Aquatinting was a refinement of the engraving process
Low,
A Guide to Audubon's
Birds of America, pages 9–13. Low's description of the aquatinting process—heavily relied on here—is by far the best I've come across. Low also nicely explains how different versions of the first ten plates from Lizars, some of which were retouched by the Havells, led to some confusion as to what was done by whom. What separates
the Havells from Lizars is aquatinting, which Lizars did not use. Alice Ford often writes of Lizars making “aquatints” of Audubon's plates, but she was mistaken—or perhaps only using this specific term as casually and inaccurately as the term “engraving” is also used in the same context.

234
   
He was fifty-eight, he said
Herrick,
Audubon the Naturalist
, vol. I, page 383.

234
   
Supposedly, Havell suggested that they visit
Ibid., pages 382–84.

234
   
The firm of Robert Havell & Son was listed
The firm appears in the
London & Provincial Directory for 1823–1824
.

234
   
Similarly, there's no evidence that
Low,
A Guide to Audubon's
Birds of America, pages 29–30.

235
   
Because Havell Junior would have help
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, August 6, 1827 (Beinecke).

235
   
The Havells also had more ready access to
Ibid.