Under a Wild Sky (65 page)

268
   
Audubon and his companions
Ibid.

269
   
The Reverend John Bachman
Shuler,
Had I the Wings
, pages 18–23.

269
   
Bachman lived in a large, three-story
Description from a photograph in Herrick,
Audubon the Naturalist
, vol. II, page 6.

269
   
The busy household hummed
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, October 23, 1831 (Beinecke).

269
   
Bachman insisted that Audubon
Ibid.

269
   
Audubon made good use
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, November 7, 1831 (Beinecke).

269
   
They were well convinced of
Ibid.

270
   
Seven years after he'd been blackballed
Thomas McEwan to Audubon, October 25, 1831 (Beinecke). McEwan was the corresponding secretary of the academy. Ironically, William MacGillivray had been elected a member a few weeks earlier.

270
   
“This is a wild country”
Lucy Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., November 1, 1831 (Houghton).

270
   
From November through March
Lucy Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., November 30, 1831 (Houghton). This letter was typical of a number that Lucy fired off to Havell that winter. In it, she insists that he cease selling individual prints and pay closer attention to the coloring and finishing of the plates: “Excuse my urging at Mr. Audubon's request your most particular attention to the work in all points for there are ever ready persons disposed to find every objection possible.”

270
   
Havell, exasperated, finally did
Actually, it may have been that Havell had been writing all along, but that his letters were delayed. Audubon got several in December, while he was in Florida, and Lucy heard from Havell in February—Lucy Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., February 20, 1832 (Houghton).

271
   
Audubon gave specific instructions
Personal observation. At Mill Grove, I examined Audubon's notations on a proof that Havell was to use in making a finished print.

271
   
Inexplicably, Havell simply appropriated
Personal observation. This famous theft has been well documented elsewhere, but just to make sure I measured and examined both Wilson's and Audubon's kites at the Houghton Library. The reversed images are identical.

271
   
Meanwhile, unaware of this transgression
Lucy Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., March 22, 1832 (Houghton).

271
   
“Mr. A and I are”
Ibid.

271
   
The real “check” Lucy provided
Victor Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., July 21, 1832 (Houghton). Victor informed Havell that he would sail for England by the beginning of October. Prior to this decision, Audubon and Lucy debated how best to involve Victor in the project, with Audubon initially arguing that his son could best be used to solicit subscriptions in America. Audubon eventually acquiesced to this plan and was glad of it.

271
   
She wrote again to Havell, admonishing him
Lucy Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., June 24, 1832 (Houghton).

271
   
Audubon, Lehman, and Ward
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, November 29, 1831 (Beinecke). In this letter, Audubon said his transition from “Idleness to hard Labour” was having a tonic effect—energizing him like an “electric fluid,” and helping him to set aside many of the concerns that had occupied his thoughts for so long. Only a week before, he had confessed to Lucy that he feared Havell might have died. But he was growing confident that anything—even a disaster such as his engraver's untimely demise—could be overcome. Havell, meanwhile, was fine.
The daily routine described here, including Audubon's practice of quickly drawing the outlines of birds before the heat spoiled the specimens, is from “Letter from Audubon to the Editor,”
Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural History
, vol. I, no. 8 (1832), 358–63.

272
   
Writing to a friend in Philadelphia
“Letter from Audubon to the Editor,”
Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural History
, vol. I, no. 8 (1832), 358–63.

272
   
This was the lot of many men
Ibid.

272
   
So far, Audubon had shot and drawn
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, November 29, 1831 (Beinecke). Audubon gave conflicting assessments of the avian bounty in northeastern Florida. Though he frequently complained of having trouble finding new species, he seems to have kept himself busy drawing and on other occasions noted the abundance of birds in the area. Presumably, he saw birds everywhere and all the time, but was sometimes frustrated by their wariness or by the fact that many were already well-known to him.

272
   
Audubon had acquired a telescope
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, December 8, 1831 (Beinecke). It's generally thought that Audubon did not use optics in his fieldwork. This is the only reference I'm aware of that mentions either a telescope or binoculars.

272
   
The land between the ocean and
Ibid.

272
   
In mid-December of 1831
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, January 4, 1832 (Beinecke).

272
   
On Christmas day, about fifty miles below St. Augustine
“Letter from Audubon to the Editor,”
Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural History
, vol. I, no. 12 (1832), 529–37. The description of the approach to Bulow Plantation is a personal observation from my visit there in November 2002. The long, sandy road was empty and quiet, and the overarching live oaks seemed to close behind me as I drove slowly in, coming at last to the opening in the forest where Bulow's house and the slave quarters once stood. A way off from this compound, in a jungly clearing, the black, hulking ruins of the sugar mill looked out of place—a fantastic mistake. Down by the creek, the clear current swept by silently, and now and then a bird called from an unseen perch in the forest.

273
   
Audubon remained there for several weeks
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, January 16, 1832 (Beinecke).

273
   
Just before New Year's
“Letter from J. J. Audubon to the Editor,”
Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural History
, vol. I, no. 9 (1832), 407–14.

275
   
There was little reason to stay on
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, January 16, 1832 (Beinecke).

275
   
During his first visit to Charleston
The report is quoted in Shuler,
Had I the Wings
, page 7.

275
   
In Philadelphia, the short-lived
“Audubon.”
Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural History
, vol I, no. 10 (1832), 456–68.

275
   
In February, the
Philadelphia Gazette
reported that Philadelphia Gazette
, Feb. 11, 1832.

276
   
There were no revenue cutters
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, January 16, 1832 (Beinecke).

276
   
East Florida, he said, was a barren place
“Letter from Audubon to the Editor,”
Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural History
, vol. I, no. 12 (1832), 529–37.

276
   
William Bartram, who had thought
Ibid.

276
   
Audubon had hoped the
Spark
would take him
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, January 16, 1832 (Beinecke).

276
   
Audubon went back to Charleston briefly
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, April 15, 1832 (Beinecke).

276
   
He wrote to Lucy, saying that this expedition
Ibid.

276
   
In April and May Audubon traveled
Proby,
Audubon in Florida
, page 4.

276
   
He even saw flamingos
Audubon, “American Flamingo,”
Ornithological Biography
, vol. V, pages 255–64.

276
   
Although both of the boys had grown
Lucy Audubon to Audubon, March 19, 1832 (Beinecke).

277
   
Lucy wrote to Audubon, thanking him
Ibid.

277
   
Audubon's funds, as Lucy pointedly put it
Ibid.

277
   
“Do not come home”
Ibid.

277
   
“If you
cannot
come up”
Ibid.

277
   
“I will be as prudent as need be”
Audubon to Lucy Audubon, April 15, 1832 (Beinecke).

277
   
Within the year he would write to Victor
Audubon to Victor Audubon, February 24, 1833 (Beinecke).

278
   
Joseph Kidd, who had signed a contract
Joseph Kidd to Victor Audubon, April 3, 1833 (Houghton).

278
   
“I have nothing to say to you”
Audubon to Victor Audubon, February 24, 1833 (Beinecke).

278
   
“Now my Dear Sir”
Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., April 20, 1833 (Houghton).

279
   
Audubon showed the great, awkward-looking bird
Audubon,
The Birds of America
, Plate CCCCXXIII.

279
   
In 1833, Audubon and John Woodhouse
Audubon to Victor Audubon, May 31, 1833 (Beinecke).

279
   
Here Audubon painted seabirds
Audubon to Victor Audubon, September 9, 1833 (Beinecke).

279
   
Later that year, the Audubons went to visit
Audubon to Victor Audubon, November 4, 1833 (Beinecke).

279
   
Audubon wrote to Victor that in the future
Ibid.

279
   
But in 1834 and 1835
Audubon to Robert Havell Jr., January 19, 1834 (Houghton).

279
   
MacGillivray thought Audubon's prose style
William MacGillivray to Audubon, July 18, 1835 (Beinecke).

279
   
He wrote to Bachman that he would rather
Audubon to John Bachman, November 19, 1834 (Houghton).

280
   
Audubon told Bachman that he was arranging
Ibid.

280
   
Audubon returned to America
Audubon to John Bachman, July 9, 1836 (Houghton).

280
   
He managed to get his hands on
Audubon to John Bachman, October 2, 1836 (Houghton).

280
   
The following year he traveled once more
Audubon to [no name], February 13, 1837 (Beinecke). This letter, bearing the salutation “My Dearest Friends,” was almost
certainly to the Havells, judging by its many references to drawings shipped and instructions concerning Victor's oversight of their reproduction.

280
   
In May 1837 John Woodhouse married
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 428.

280
   
Once, when Victor had expressed concern
Audubon to Victor Audubon, November 4, 1833 (Beinecke).

280
   
Charles-Lucien Bonaparte called on Audubon
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 348. In a letter, Audubon to John Bachman, December 20, 1837 (Houghton), Audubon spoke derisively of Bonaparte, calling the prince “Charley,” and saying he knew far less about birds than he pretended.

280
   
Sometime later, when Bonaparte published
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 351.

280
   
Bonaparte, who was evidently
Ford,
John James Audubon
, page 374. Ford quotes from a letter Waterton wrote to Ord, informing Audubon's archenemy that the prince had told him directly that Audubon had not studied with David.

280
   
Audubon eventually wrote to Bonaparte
Audubon to Charles-Lucien Bonaparte, February 26, 1843 (American Philosophical Society [Bibliothèque Nationale de Museum d'Histoire Naturelle]).

281
   
Bonaparte did not answer
Stroud,
The Emperor of Nature
, page 198.