The Birds That Audubon Missed
Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness
- Auteur: Kenn Kaufman (Verenigde Staten)
- Soort boek: vogelboek, natuurboek
- Taal: Engels
- Uitgever: Avid Reader Press
- Verschijnt: 7 mei 2024
- Omvang: 400 pagina’s
- Uitgave: gebonden boek / ebook
- Prijs: $32.50 / $16.99
- Boek bestellen bij: Amazon / Bol
Flaptekst vogelboek over ornitholoog John James Audubon van Kenn Kaufman
Renowned naturalist Kenn Kaufman examines the scientific discoveries of John James Audubon and his artistic and ornithologist peers to show how what they saw (and what they missed) reflects how we perceive and understand the natural world.
Raging ambition. Towering egos. Competition under a veneer of courtesy. Heroic effort combined with plagiarism, theft, exaggeration, and fraud. This was the state of bird study in eastern North America during the early 1800s, as a handful of intrepid men raced to find the last few birds that were still unknown to science.
The most famous name in the bird world was John James Audubon, who painted spectacular portraits of birds. But although his images were beautiful, creating great art was not his main goal. Instead, he aimed to illustrate (and write about) as many different species as possible, obsessed with trying to outdo his rival, Alexander Wilson. George Ord, a fan and protégé of Wilson, held a bitter grudge against Audubon for years, claiming he had faked much of his information and his scientific claims. A few of Audubon’s birds were pure fiction, and some of his writing was invented or plagiarized. Other naturalists of the era, including Charles Bonaparte (nephew of Napoleon), John Townsend, and Thomas Nuttall, also became entangled in the scientific derby, as they stumbled toward an understanding of the natural world—an endeavor that continues to this day.
Despite this intense competition, a few species—including some surprisingly common songbirds, hawks, sandpipers, and more—managed to evade discovery for years. Here, renowned bird expert and artist Kenn Kaufman explores this period in history from a new angle, by considering the birds these people discovered and, especially, the ones they missed. Kaufman has created portraits of the birds that Audubon never saw, attempting to paint them in that artist’s own stunning style, as a way of examining the history of natural sciences and nature art. He shows how our understanding of birds continues to gain clarity, even as some mysteries persist from Audubon’s time until ours.
Kenn Kaufman The Birds That Audubon Missed recensie
Als er in de media een boekbespreking, review of recensie verschijnt van The Birds That Audubon Missed, Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness, het nieuwe boek van de Amerikaanse naturalist en schrijver Kenn Kaufman, dan besteden we er op deze pagina aandacht aan.
- “A must-read for birders curious about so much that lies hidden behind the names in our pastime… The Birds That Audubon Missed isn’t a dry history; it’s as alive as the birds it describes, thanks to the personal aspect Kaufman weaves into the narrative…The era of great discovery never ends if all discovery is personal. One’s own revelatory experiences in the natural world are what truly matter.” (Christian Cooper, Washington Post)
- “Splendid… A high-flying study of Audubon’s scientific contributions and major missteps . . . The discerning attention Kaufman pays to overlooked corners of his subject’s biography reveals Audubon’s fabulist streak (he ginned up funds for his first book by inventing an eagle with a rumored 10-foot wingspan) and ethical lapses (he once passed off a hawk specimen from a fellow Academy of Natural Sciences member as his own). Kaufman includes his own illustrations of the birds discussed, gamely mimicking Audubon’s style while bringing a sensibility distinctly his own.” (Publishers Weekly)