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Lilly Library

Christoph Irmscher on recovering Birds of America printer

Audubon volume IV-402

On the occasion of the first Rare Book School course to be taught at Indiana University, the Lilly Library invites you to a public lecture by IU Provost Professor Christoph Irmscher.

“Recovering Havell: A New Look at Birds of America

While we are used to referring to the magnificent Birds of America (1827-1838) as Audubon’s work, it is really also that of his printer, Robert Havell, Jr. His contribution to the finished product has been marginalized by generations of devoted Audubon admirers. This talk is a first attempt to recover Havell’s impact on individual plates (which ranged from supplying backgrounds to adding in entire specimens) as well as on the work as a whole. One underlying theme of these reflections will be the extent to which an Englishman who had never seen the United States shaped a work usually defined as quintessentially “American.”

Audubon scholar and IU Professor Christoph Irmscher will speak in the Lilly Library Slocum Room at 5:30 pm on May 12. A reception will follow the talk.

A Rare Book School Lecture sponsored by the Friends of the Lilly Library.