Chapter XXV: Audubon's Letterpress and Its Rivals (1)

Settlement in London—Starts on canvassing tour with
his wife—Change of plans—In Edinburgh—Discovery of
MacGillivray—His hand in the _Ornithological Biography_—Rival
editions of Wilson and Bonaparte—Brown's extraordinary
atlas—Reception of the _Biography_—Joseph Bartholomew Kidd
and the Ornithological Gallery—In London again.

On the 1st of April, 1830, Audubon and his wife sailed from New York in the packet ship _Pacific_, bound for Liverpool, where they landed after a voyage of twenty-five days. Upon returning to London the naturalist found that upon the 18th of the preceding March he had been elected to membership in the Royal Society, an honor for which he felt indebted to Lord Stanley and his friend Children, of the British Museum; after paying the entrance fee of £50, he took his seat in that body on the 6th of May. The painting of pictures was at once resumed to meet his heavy expenses, but towards the end of July he started with Mrs. Audubon on a canvassing tour, in the course of which his plans suddenly were changed so that London did not see him again for nearly a year.[381] On this journey they touched at Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, York, Hull, Scarborough, Whitby, New Castle, and Belford, to visit the Selbys, and on the 13th of October reached Edinburgh, where they were soon comfortably settled in the naturalist's old lodging place, the house of Mrs. Dickey, Number 26, George Street.

Audubon was now ready to begin the text of his _Birds of America_, to be called _Ornithological Biography_, which is often referred to as his "Biography of Birds." This work, which was eventually extended to five large volumes of over three thousand pages, was published at Edinburgh from 1831 to 1839. He had made crude beginnings with this in view as early as 1821, and on October 16, 1830, he wrote: "I know that I am not a scholar ..." but, "with the assistance of my old journals and memorandum-books, which were written on the spot, I can at least put down plain truths, which may be useful, and perhaps interesting, so I shall set to at once. I cannot, however, give scientific descriptions, and here must have assistance." To supply this need, as we have seen already, he had earlier applied to William Swainson, but the negotiations with that naturalist were soon broken off, and led to a sharp and acrid discussion upon the authorship of the work itself.[382]

By a rare stroke of genius or good fortune, Audubon chose for his assistant a young Scotch naturalist, William MacGillivray, who had been introduced to him by another naturalist, James Wilson, soon after he reached the Scottish capital. MacGillivray agreed "to revise and correct" his manuscript at the rate of two guineas per sheet of sixteen pages, and in the latter part of October, 1830, they set to work. We shall soon have occasion to speak more fully of his debt to this estimable Scotchman,[383] and will only add here that a better trained or more competent helper than MacGillivray could hardly have been found in Great Britain or elsewhere.

After a photograph in possession of Mr. Ruthven Deane.]

After an old print; reproduced from _Cassinia_ for 1910.]

No sooner had Audubon begun to write than it was learned that "no less than three editions of 'Wilson's Ornithology' were about to be published, one by Jameson, one by Sir W. Jardine, and another by a Mr. Brown." The outlook could not be considered encouraging, but this intelligence only nerved him to greater effort, and he was determined to push his own publication with such unremitting vigor as to anticipate them all. "Since I have been in England," he wrote in his journal, "I have studied the character of Englishmen as carefully as I have studied the birds in America, and I know full well that in England novelty is always in demand, and that if a thing is well known it will not receive much support." Audubon worked continuously at his _Biography_, rising before the dawn and writing all day, while the able worker at his side carried his efforts far into the night, and in three months the first volume was ready for the printer; Mrs. Audubon meanwhile copied their entire manuscript to be sent to the United States in order to secure the American copyright. When this work was offered to the publishers at Edinburgh, however, not one of them, said the naturalist, would offer a shilling for it, but this did not deter him from publishing it at once and at his own expense.[384] On March 13, 1831, he wrote: "The printing will be completed in a few days, and I have sent copies of the sheets to Dr. Harlan, and Mr. McMurtie, at Philadelphia, and also one hundred pounds sterling to Messrs. T. Walker & Sons, to be paid to Dr. Harlan to secure the copyright, and have the book published there."

The following friendly letter from one of Wilson's editors belongs to this period:

_Sir William Jardine to Audubon_

JARDINE HALL _3 d Decr. 1830_—

MY DEAR SIR,

I only learnt a few days since that you were to winter in
Edinburgh, and perhaps since you are not Hurried for time in
Trovelly [?] will come out to spend a day or two with me—If
you can come out before the 10 th. when I shall have the
pleasure of shewing you some Blackgame Shooting—The season
expires on the Tenth of the Month partridges have bred so
ill that there is scarsely any in the whole country, and
pheasants have been so lately introduced that they are yet
rather scarce—In a wet day you may have your easel & brushes
I should wish much to hear your account of Wilson during the
times you hunted with him—and also some account of the New
Species you figure in the american Ornithology—

I am happy to learn you intend _figuring_ the learned Men
of America as accompanyment to your work particularly the
ornithologists, do you know the painter of the portrait of
Wilson—I have three portraits of him in the House, and also
a profile taken by the machine I should like to have your
opinion of them one of the portraits was painted from an
original that went to America—

I shall expect to hear you are coming soon—Mr Lizars will tell
you about coaches—&c

With best regards believe me

Sincerely yours

WM JARDINE

[Addressed] J. AUDUBON Esqr
Care of W. H. LIZARS Esqr
3 James Square
Edinburgh.

From a copy presented by Audubon to William MacGillivray and
bearing the latter's signature.]

Audubon was not outstripped by his Edinburgh rivals, who to all appearances had planned to cover the field of American ornithology so thoroughly as to render his work a drug on the market, if not to make it superfluous. Whether this were really true or not, there is no doubt that Audubon's activity furnished the stimulus to the sudden appreciation of the work of his predecessor that was manifested in Edinburgh at this very moment of time. It will be interesting to see just what these rival enterprises were. Professor Jameson, who had been of great service to Audubon at the beginning of his undertaking, prepared a pocket edition of Wilson's and Bonaparte's _Ornithology_, with miniature plates which were issued separately, and the two works, which were intended to go together, were published in 1831.[385] Sir William Jardine brought out an edition of Wilson's and Bonaparte's work, in three large volumes, with plates engraved by W. H. Lizars after the originals and carefully colored by hand.[386] This was thoroughly legitimate enterprise, but the climax was reached when Captain Thomas Brown began to publish an "Audubonized edition" of Wilson's and Bonaparte's plates, or an attempt to present their plates of American birds in the Audubonian manner, to the extent at least of showing the characteristic flowers, trees, and insects of the American continent, a plan to which some of Audubon's earlier critics in Philadelphia had offered strenuous objection. Brown's large atlas of plates[387] was issued in parts, from 1831 to 1835, and was intended as a further companion to Jameson's text for all who could afford that expensive form of illustration. By a curious coincidence Audubon's _Ornithological Biography_ (vol. i), Jameson's edition of Wilson and Bonaparte (vol. i), and Brown's _Illustrations_ (pt. i), were all noticed on the same page of the _London Literary Gazette_ for April 9, 1831. "This day is published," so reads the advertisement of Audubon's work, "price 25s. in royal octavo, cloth, Ornithological Biography...." If the desire of these various editors were to cripple the work of the American naturalist, their efforts were certainly vain, for he was able to make his way against all competitors. Brown's work was a failure, so few copies having been distributed that it is doubtful if more than one ever came to this country, and only one is known to be in possession of any large library in England.

Audubon's initial volume of the _Biography_ was well received and drew forth immediate and unstinted praise from many sources. He was anxious that MacGillivray should contribute some account of it to the London _Quarterly Review_, then under the editorial management of John Gibson Lockhart, but his suggestion was coldly received and drew forth the following declaration of independence from his able, if as yet undistinguished, coadjutor:[388]

With respect to the review, I can only say that if Mr.
Lockhart is so doubtful as to my powers, he may doubt as
long as he lists. I shall not submit any essay of mine to his
judgment. If you had informed me that he or the conductor of
my other review would print a notice of your works, I should
have agreed to write one with pleasure, but under existing
circumstances I shall not, it being repugnant to my feelings
and contrary to my practice and principles to sue for favor
with any man. I have already written three reviews of your
books which have been printed, and when I am applied to for
a fourth I shall write it too, with "an elegance of style, a
power of expression, and knowledge of the subject" equal to
those usually displayed by the editor of the Quarterly.

Some of the criticism, whether friendly or hostile, which this work eventually evoked will be considered in a later chapter.

Shortly after his arrival in London, Audubon received a call from Joseph Bartholomew Kidd, a young artist whom he had met at Edinburgh the previous March, and was attracted so much by his "youth, simplicity and cleverness" that he again invited him to paint in his rooms. On the 31st of March, 1831, an agreement was made with Kidd[389] to copy some of his drawings in oils and put in appropriate backgrounds. "It was our intention," said Audubon, "to send them to the exhibition for sale, and to divide the amount between us. He painted eight, and then I proposed, if he would paint the one hundred engravings which comprise my first volume of the Birds of America, I would pay him one hundred pounds." In 1832 Captain Thomas Brown gave this notice of the undertaking in the _Caledonian Mercury_:

About a year ago Audubon conceived the grand idea of a Natural
History Gallery of Paintings, and entered into an agreement
with Mr. Kidd to copy all his drawings of the same size, and
in oil, leaving to the taste of that excellent artist to add
such backgrounds as might give them a more pictorial effect.
In the execution of such of these as Mr. Kidd has finished,
he has not only preserved all the vivacious character of the
originals, but he has greatly heightened their beauty, by the
general tone and appropriate feeling which he has preserved
and carried throughout his pictures.

Kidd worked intermittently on some such scheme for about three years, and produced numerous pictures on canvas or mill-board. He was thus engaged in 1833 when he wrote to ask for an advance of from twelve to fourteen pounds on account of an accident that had befallen him on the 16th of May of that year. Kidd said in his letter that while he was attending a sale of Lord Eldin's pictures, the floor of the building suddenly gave way with a crash and precipitated the whole company, together with the furniture, into a room below; that he had sustained many bruises himself, not to speak of a dislocated arm, but what with blisters, cupping, nurses and remedies of all sorts, he was then slowly mending. Another of their projects was to publish Kidd's copies of Audubon's drawings as individual pieces, and a notice of this appeared in _Blackwood's Magazine_ for 1831. John Wilson, in reviewing Audubon's work in the magazine for that year said: "it is expected that there will be completed by Audubon, Kidd, and others,—Four Hundred Subjects. Audubon purposes opening, on his return [from America], an Ornithological Gallery, of which may the proceeds prove a moderate fortune!" All such plans, however, seem to have been delayed or frustrated, and a misunderstanding with Kidd brought them suddenly to a close in 1833. Audubon's explicit directions under this head were given in a letter to his son Victor, written at Charleston on Christmas Day of that year.[390]

When his letterpress was finished, Audubon left Edinburgh with Mrs. Audubon on April 15, 1831. Newcastle, York, Leeds, and Manchester were again visited, and a pause of several days was made at Liverpool before proceeding to London, when, as the naturalist recorded, they "traveled on that extraordinary road, called the railway, at the rate of 24 miles an hour." In May[391] they visited Paris, Audubon no doubt wishing to collect the money due from his agent there, as well as to introduce his wife to the unrivaled attractions of the great city. Upon returning to London in July he had the pleasure of again meeting his _fidus Achates_, Edward Harris,[392] of Moorestown, New Jersey, and immediately began to put his affairs in order for a long period of absence.

While Audubon was in Paris, the following letter[393] was written by his staunch friend and supporter in Congress, Edward Everett, who, as has been seen, fully appreciated the national character of his great undertakings. The effort of this able advocate to give _The Birds of America_ free passage to their native land, however, do not appear to have been successful until two years later, as a letter to be quoted in due course clearly indicates.

_Edward Everett to Audubon_

CHARLESTOWN, MASS., _May 19th, 1831_.

MY DEAR SIR

I duly received your favor of the 1st. of Nov. accompanied
with some copies of the Prospectus, and a few days since your
letter of the 5th. March reached me. I owe you an apology for
being so tardy in my reply to the former letter. It reached
me at Washington, while I was confined with a severe illness,
with which, since Oct. last, I have till lately been much
afflicted. I was, most of the session, in such a state of
health, as to be kept at my lodgings, and when in my place,
in the House of Representatives, little able to attend to
business. As soon as I went abroad, after the receipt of your
letter, I consulted some of the most influential members of
Congress, as to the probability of being able to pass a bill
for the free introduction of your work. Last winters session
was the short session, terminating by the Constitution on the
3d. of March. At this session, it is always very difficult
to pass any bills, originating during the session. The time
is regularly taken up by bills, prepared the previous winter.
In addition to this circumstance, more than half of the last
session was taken up, by an impeachment before the Senate.
A procedure, which suspended during its continuance, the
legislative business of the two Houses, and left no time for
scarce anything, beyond the annual appropriation bills for
the support of the government. Under these circumstances,
the gentlemen, whom I consulted, were of opinion with me that
it was impossible, for want of time, to pass a bill in your
favor, and that it was therefor better not to attempt it, at
the late session, but to reserve it for next winter, when it
can be brought up seasonably, and with good hope of success.
I shall take great pleasure to seize the first moment, at
the opening of the next session, to bring the subject before
Congress.

The portions of your work, which arrived at Washington before
I left it, were publicly exhibited in the library, and
attracted great attention and unqualified admiration. The
same is true of the copy received by the Boston Athenaeum.
The plates were specially exhibited in the great hall of the
Athenaeum, to the entire satisfaction and delight of those
who saw them.

The copy-right law authorizes any citizen of the U. States to
take out a copy-right of his work, on depositing a _printed
copy_ of the _title page_ in the office of the District Court.
I infer from your letter of the 5th. of March, that you had
sent copies of the printed sheets of your work to Drs. Harlan
and M. Mertrie [McMurtie] of Philadelphia with a view of
having the copy-right.

I have distributed a part of your prospectuses, and shall
do the same with the rest, in the manner that may seem most
likely to promote your interest. I regret to say, that I
have not yet been able to add another, to the list of your
subscribers.

You mention, in each of your letters, the little picture you
were so kind, as to propose sending me. This alone leads me to
say, that whenever it comes to hand, it will be most welcome:
but that, engaged as you are in laboring in the cause of
science and of America, you must not feel obliged to consume
one hour of your precious time at the sacrifice of those
higher objects.

I am happy to be able to say to you, that my health, though
not wholly restored, is greatly improved, and that if you will
continue to favor me with your commands, I will prove myself,
hereafter, a more punctual correspondent.

I look forward with sincere pleasure, to the prospect of
meeting you again, on this side of the Atlantic, and with my
respectful compliments to Mrs. Audubon, I beg leave, dear sir,
to tender you the assurance of my high respects, and with it
my most friendly salutations.

EDWARD EVERETT.

P.S. Since the foregoing was written, I have received your
favor of the 23d. of April. I beg leave particularly to thank
you for your kindness in reference to the picture. I shall
prize it, not merely on account of its scientific value and
beauty as a work of art, (both of which I feel assured it will
be found to possess) but as a token of your friendly regard.
It will give me great pleasure to furnish you any letters in
my power, for your adventurous south western tour. These I
shall have the pleasure of handing you, when we meet this side
the water.

You were elected in November last a fellow of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, on the nomination which I had
the honor to submit to that body. Owing to a change in the
secretaryship a delay arose in preparing your diploma, which
will however be forwarded in a few days.

Upon balancing his accounts with _The Birds of America_ at about this time, Audubon thought it was truly remarkable that $40,000 should have passed through his hands for the completion of the first volume.

Who would believe that once in London I had only a sovereign
left in my pocket, and did not know to whom to apply for
another, when at the verge of failure; above all, that I
extricated myself from all my difficulties, not by borrowing
money, but by rising at four o'clock in the morning, working
hard all day, and disposing of my works at a price which a
common labourer would have thought little more than sufficient
remuneration for his work? To give you an idea of my actual
difficulties during the publication of my first volume, it
will be sufficient to say, that in the four years required
to bring that volume before the world, no less than fifty of
my subscribers, representing the sum of fifty-six thousand
dollars, abandoned me! And whenever a few withdrew I was
forced to leave London, and go to the provinces, to obtain
others to supply their places, in order to enable me to
raise the money to meet the expenses of engraving, coloring,
paper, printing ...; and that with all my constant exertions,
fatigues, and vexations, I find myself now having but one
hundred and thirty standing names on my list.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Samuel Johnson, _The Rambler_, No. 60.

[2] _Ornithological Biography_ (Bibl. No. 2), vol. iv, p. 222.

[3] Elliott Coues, _Key to North American Birds_, 4th ed., p.
xxi (Boston, 1890).

[4] Audubon, in Audubon County, Iowa, in Beeker County,
Minnesota, and in Wise County, Texas, as well as Audubon,
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in which his old farm,
"Mill Grove," is situated. Audubon Avenue is the first of the
subterranean passages which lead from the entrance of Mammoth
Cave, and is noted for its swarms of bats. Audubon Park, New
York City, between the Hudson River and Broadway and extending
from 156th, to 160th Streets, embraces a part of "Minnie's
Land," the naturalist's old Hudson River estate, but is a
realty designation and is now almost entirely covered with
buildings (see Chapter XXXVI).

[5] The Audubon Monument Committee of the New York Academy of
Sciences was appointed October 3, 1887, and made its final
report in 1893, when this beautiful memorial was formally
dedicated. Subscriptions from all parts of the United States
amounted to $10,525.21. The monument is a Runic cross in
white marble, ornamented with American birds and mammals which
Audubon has depicted, and surmounts a die bearing a portrait
of the naturalist, modeled from Cruikshank's miniature, with
suitable inscriptions, the whole being supported on a base of
granite; the total height is nearly 26 feet, and the weight
2 tons. It was presented to the Corporation of Trinity Parish
by Professor Thomas Eggleston, and received by Rev. Dr. Morgan
Dix. The cemetery has since been cut in two by the extension
of Broadway; the monument is in the northerly section, close
to the parish house of the Chapel of the Intercession.

The monument at New Orleans, mentioned below, was erected
under the auspices of the Audubon Association, at a cost of
$10,000, most of which was secured through the efforts of Mrs.
J. L. Bradford, $1,500 having been contributed by residents
of the Crescent City. The figure is in bronze, and stands on
a high pedestal of Georgia granite.

The beautiful bust of Audubon at the American Museum of
Natural History is by William Couper, of Newark, N. J.

[6] As will later appear, this was in reality the 120th
anniversary.

[7] The first Audubon Society, devoted to the interests of
bird protection, was organized by Dr. George Bird Grinnell,
editor of _Forest and Stream_, in 1886, and 16,000 members
were enrolled during the first year; Dr. Grinnell was also
the father of the _Audubonian Magazine_ (see Bibliography,
No. 190), which made its first appearance in January,
1887; by the middle of that year the membership in the new
society had increased to 38,000, but with the disappearance
of the _Magazine_ in 1889 the movement languished and
came to a speedy end. In 1896 a fresh start was taken by
the inauguration of State societies in Massachusetts and
Pennsylvania, and the movement gathered greater force through
the inauguration in 1899 of the admirably conducted magazine,
_Bird-Lore_, as its official organ. The State societies were
federated in 1902, and the National Committee then created
gave place in 1905 to the National Association. See Gilbert
Trafton, _Bird Friends_, for an excellent summary of the work
of the Audubon Societies, and the "Twelfth Annual Report of
the National Association of Audubon Societies," _Bird-Lore_,
vol. xviii (1916).

[8] In this year Charles Lanman, writer, and at a later time
librarian of the Library of Congress, wrote to Victor Audubon
as follows: "Are not you and your family willing _now_ to
let me write a book about your illustrious father? I feel
confident that I could get up something very interesting and
which would not only help the big work, but make money. I
could have it brought out in handsome style, and should like
to have well engraved a portrait and some half dozen views
in Kentucky, Louisiana, and on the Hudson. Write me what you
think about it." Lanman's letter is dated "Georgetown, D. C.,
Oct. 8, 1856"; on November 1 Victor Audubon replied, declining
the proposal.

[9] Messrs. C. S. Francis & Company, of 554 Broadway, New
York.

[10] The publishers in this instance do not appear to have
been better informed, for the text of the _Quadrupeds_, from
which they quote, was written by John Bachman, and the first
volume of it was issued in London in 1847; see Bibliography,
No. 6.

[11] Rev. Dr. Adams was rector of this parish for twenty-five
years, from 1863 to his death in February, 1888; he was the
author of three volumes on religious subjects and various
smaller tracts; from 1855 to 1863 he had charge of a church in
Baltimore, Maryland, and while there published an anonymous
pamphlet entitled "Slavery by a Marylander; Its Institution
and Origin; Its Status Under the Law and Under the Gospel" (8
pp. 8vo. Baltimore, 1860).

[12] Buchanan said that the manuscript submitted to him was
inordinately long and needed careful revision; he added that
"while he could not fail to express his admiration for the
affectionate spirit and intelligent sympathy with which the
friendly editor discharged his task, he was bound to say
that his literary experience was limited." After copying a
passage from one of Audubon's journals, this editor had the
unfortunate habit of drawing his pen through the original;
in this way hundreds of pages of Audubon's admirable
"copper-plate" were irretrievably defaced.

[13] Robert Buchanan, _The Life of Audubon_ (Bibl. No. 72),
p. vi.

[14] See Harriet Jay, _Robert Buchanan: Some Account of His
Life, His Life's Work, and His Literary Friendships_ (London,
1903). Robert Williams Buchanan was born at Caverswell,
Lancashire, August 18, 1841, and died in London, June 10,
1901.

[15] For similar spelling of the name by John James Audubon,
see Appendix I, Document No. 12.

[16] For notice of these records of Jean Audubon and his
family, see the Preface, and for the most important documents,
Appendix I.

[17] Pierre Audubon's service in the merchant marine of France
is undoubtedly recorded in the archives of the Department of
Marine in Paris, but all researches in that direction were
suddenly halted by the war.

[18] Jean Audubon had a brother Claude, and on February
27, 1791, he wrote to him, asking for 4,000 francs, which
he needed for the purchase of a boat. It was probably this
brother who lived at Bayonne, and left three daughters, Anne,
Dominica, and Catherine Françoise, who married Jean Louis
Lissabé, a pilot (see Vol. I, p. 263). If this inference be
correct, and the sum referred to was demanded in payment of
a debt, it may explain a statement of the naturalist that his
father and his uncle were not on speaking terms.

Another brother is said to have been an active politician
at Nantes, La Rochelle and Paris from 1771 to 1796, when he
dropped out of sight for a number of years. When heard of
again he was living at La Rochelle in affluence and piety.
This was apparently the Audubon to whom the naturalist
referred in certain of his journals and private letters as one
who, possessing the secret of his birth and early life, had
done both him and his father an irreparable injury (see Vol.
I, p. 270).

A sister, Marie Rosa Audubon, was married in 1794 to Pierre de
Vaugeon, a lawyer at Nantes; their only son, Louis Lejeune de
Vaugeon, was living at Nantes as late as 1822, when he deeded
his former home to Henri Boutard. (The substance of this and
the preceding paragraph is based partly upon data furnished
by Miss Maria R. Audubon.)

Jean Audubon gave his daughter, Rosa, the name of her aunt,
but in later life seems to have broken off all relations with
his brothers. Upon his death his will was immediately attacked
by Mme. Lejeune de Vaugeon, of Nantes, and by the three nieces
from Bayonne (see Chapter XVII). The naturalist does not give
the name of the aunt who, as he said, was killed during the
Revolution at Nantes, but I have found no reference to any
other.

[19] This was recalled by the naturalist on March 5, 1827,
when he wrote: "As a lad I had a great aversion to anything
English or Scotch, and I remember when travelling with my
father to Rochefort in January, 1800, I mentioned this to
him.... How well I remember his reply.... 'Thy blood will
cool in time, and thou wilt be surprised to see how gradually
prejudices are obliterated, and friendships acquired, towards
those that we at one time held in contempt. Thou hast not been
in England; I have, and it is a fine country.'" (See Maria R.
Audubon, _Audubon and His Journals_ (Bibl. No. 86), vol. i,
p. 216).

[20] In 1789 over 7,000,000 pounds of cotton and 758,628
pounds of indigo were exported from the French side of
the island, while further products of that year, including
smaller amounts of cocoa, molasses, rum, hides, dye-woods,
and tortoise shell, swelled the grand total of exports to
205,000,000 livres or francs. Bryan Edwards, however, whose
deductions were based on official returns, placed the average
value of all exports from French Santo Domingo for the years
1787, 1788, and 1789, at 171,544,000 livres in Hispaniola
currency, or £4,765,129 sterling; this would be equivalent to
about $23,158,426, and imply a purchase value of the French
livre or franc of about 13½ cents in American money.

The number of plantations of every kind in the French colony
was estimated by Edwards in 1790, at the outbreak of the
Revolution, at 8,536; there were over 800 sugar plantations,
over 3,000 coffee estates, to mention two such resources.
If to these items we add nearly half a million slaves, the
total valuation of the movable and fixed property of the
French planters and merchants of this period would reach
1,557,870,000 francs. In 1788, 98 slave ships entered the six
principal ports on the French side, and landed 29,506 negroes;
Les Cayes received 19 of these ships, which delivered at that
port 4,590 blacks. These slaves were sold for 61,936,190
livres, or at the rate of 2,008.37 livres each; according
to Edwards this was equivalent to £60 sterling, or to about
$291.60 in American money, at the rate of 14½ cents to the
livre or franc. See particularly Francis Alexander Stanilaus,
Baron de Wimpffen, _A Voyage to Santo Domingo in the Years
1788, 1789, and 1790_, translated by J. Wright (London, 1817);
and also Bryan Edwards, _An Historical Survey of the French
Colony in the Island of San Domingo_ (London, 1797).

[21] As signed by herself, but variously spelled "Moinet,"
or "Moynette" in family documents of the period. On August
28, four days after their marriage, they drew up and signed
a mutual contract regarding the disposition of their property
in case children should be born to them.

[22] The destruction of _Le Comte d'Artois_ is noticed in a
document bearing date of January 19, 1782; the name of the
town only is given, but it is probable that it refers to the
United States.

[23] For repeated reference to this unsettled claim, see his
letter of 1805 to Francis Dacosta (Chapter VIII), where the
name is written "Formont."

The bill of sale of _Le Comte d'Artois_ was drawn on February
21, 1779, when Jean Audubon appeared "before the notaries
of the king in the seneschal's court of Saint Louis," and
was described as "resident at Les Cayes, opposite the Isle à
Vaches." The document, which in my copy is incomplete, reads
in part as follows:

"The present M. Jean Audubon, captain-commander of the ship
_Le Comte d'Artois_, of Nantes, armed for war and now laden
with merchandise, anchored in this roadstead of Les Cayes,
dispatched, and at the point of departure for France; armed
by the Messrs. Coirond Brothers, merchants at the said city
of Nantes, acting in his own name as one interested in the
armament and cargo of the vessel, as well as in his capacity
as captain; [he] acting as much also for the said furnishers
of arms as for the others interested in the said armaments,
and the merchandise, which will be hereafter mentioned,
in consideration of the rights of each, promises to have
these presents accepted and approved in due time; which said
person, appearing in said names, in the quality aforesaid,
by these presents has sold, ceded, given up, transferred,
and relinquished all his legal rights in the aforesaid ship,
to the business-associates Lacroix, Formon de Boisclair &
Jacques, three merchants in partnership, living in this town,
purchasers conjointly and severally, for themselves and the
assigns of each, to the extent of one third; To wit: the
said ship _Le Comte d'Artois_, of the said port of Nantes,
of about two hundred and fifty tons, at present anchored in
this roadstead of Les Cayes, dispatched, and at the point
of departure for France, with all its rigging, outfit, and
dependences, which consist among other things of two sets of
sail, complete, and newly fitted out, all the tools, and the
reserve sets of these, with the munitions of war, consisting
of ten cannon, four of them mounted on gun carriages, and all
that goes with them...." (Translated from the French original
in possession of Monsieur Lavigne.)

[24] The fact that Captain Audubon did not accompany
Rochambeau's fleet which assembled at Brest in April, 1780,
and reached Newport in mid-July, may account for the omission
of his name from the lists that have been recently published.
See _Les Combattants François de la Guerre Américaine_,
1778-1783 (Paris, 1903).

[25] Others interested in this vessel were Messrs. David
Ross & Company, with whom Captain Audubon later had financial
difficulties (see Chapter VIII).

[26] See letter to Dacosta, Vol. I, p. 121.

[27] The proper name of this seaport town, as given by all
French cartographers and writers, is _Les Cayes_, meaning "the
cays" or "keys" (small islands, Spanish _cayos_); omitting the
article it is often simply written "Cayes." French residents
on the island, however, when dating or addressing a letter
or receipting a bill would naturally write "_aux Cayes_,"
meaning of course "at The Cays," where the document was signed
or where the person to whom the letter was addressed resided
(see the Sanson bill, and bills of sale of negroes, Appendix
I, Documents Nos. 1, 4, 5, and 6). It was thus an easy step
for Englishmen, in ignorance or disregard of the French usage,
to call the town "Aux Cayes"; even as early as 1797, Bryan
Edwards, though giving the name correctly on his map, which
doubtless had a French source, wrote "Aux Cayes" in his text;
the corruption has survived, and is occasionally found in
standard works, but is too egregious to be tolerated.

[28] And sometime as _marchand_, more strictly a retailer.

[29] Since a colonist's wealth was estimated upon the number
of slaves he could afford, and since a slave was regarded as
equivalent to a return of 1,500 francs a year, Jean Audubon's
income on this basis would have been 63,000 francs.

[30] See Sir Spencer St. John, _Hayti, or the Black Republic_,
2d ed. (New York, 1889).

[31] Bryan Edwards, Esq., M.P., F.R.S., &c., _An Historical
Survey of the French Colony in the Island of San Domingo_
(London, 1797).

[32] See Note, Vol. I, p. 31.

[33] The Superior Council, sitting at Port-au-Prince, in
1780 fixed the tax for the parish of Les Cayes at the rate
of 2 francs, 10 centimes per head, which in this instance was
certainly trifling. (Note furnished by M. L. Lavigne.)

[34] Baron de Wimpffen sailed from Port-au-Prince for Norfolk,
Virginia, in July, 1790, about a year after Jean Audubon had
left the island.

[35] This was one of the commonest names among the French
Creoles of Santo Domingo, and was possibly assumed, though
the evidence is inconclusive. See Vol. I, p. 61.

[36] For photographic reproduction see p. 54; and for
transliteration and translation, Appendix I, Documents Nos.
1 and 1a; for "Fougère" see Appendix I, Documents Nos. 2 and
3; and for "Jean Rabin," Documents Nos. 14, 16, 17 and 18.

[37] The word "_Joue_," which occurs eleven times in
this document—as "mulatto Joue," "Joue mulatto," "negro
bossal named Joue," and "little negro Joue"—suggests the
English equivalent "Cheek," but no such usage appears to be
authorized. It is evidently a proper name, and is more likely
to prove the French rendering of a word common to one of
the negro dialects of the island. On the other hand it might
represent a corrupted pet name, like "_joujou_" or "_bijou_,"
bestowed by the French Creoles of Santo Domingo upon their
favorite _négrillons_ or _petits nègres_, which played a
more or less ornamental _rôle_ in many households, whether
as footmen or servants. In any case the use of this word is
doubtless purely local.

[38] See Vol. I, p. 46.

[39] It was stated in the act of adoption, which was drawn
up in March, 1794, that Audubon's mother had then been dead
"about eight years," and the testimony of the Sanson bill
shows that she was alive as late as October, 1785.

[40] The following letter of inquiry concerning Louise was
written by Rosa's husband when Jean Audubon's will was being
attacked in the courts at Nantes. It is dated at Couëron, June
26, 1819, and is addressed to "Monsieur Carpentier Chessé,
engraver, place Royale, Nantes:"

"Following the friendly offer that you made me, I have the
honor of asking you to undertake, at your next visit to La
Rochelle, the following inquiries:

"1. There should be at La Rochelle (it is thought at the home
of the widow Scipiot) a Miss Louise Bouffard, born at Les
Cayes, Santo Domingo, in America.

"What is her position? What is she doing? What is her conduct?
In short I should like to know absolutely all about her, being
charged by the Madame, her mother, to make all inquiries."

(Translated from original in French, Lavigne MSS.)

[41] A principal street in the old quarters of Nantes, leading
from the Place Royale to Place Graslin. Jean Audubon named
this street as his place of residence in 1792, when he was
living in a house belonging to Citizen Carricoule. He made his
home also at No. 39, rue Rubens, a short street, with many of
its houses still intact, in the same quarter; this was rented
of Françoise Mocquard for five years, beginning June 24, 1799
(_le 6 Messidor, an 7_), at four hundred francs per annum. He
also dwelt at various times at No. 5, rue de Gigant, and in
the rue des Carmes, where his wife possessed a house, as well
as in the rue des Fontenelles and the rue Saint-Leonard. Very
likely "La Gerbetière" at Couëron was occupied intermittently,
especially in summer, after the outbreak of the Revolution
and his reverses in fortune; even after his retirement there
in 1801, he still kept a lodging (_pied-à-terre_) at Nantes,
where, as it chanced, he died, though it was not his usual
stopping-place. See Note, Vol. I, p. 86.

[42] See Maria R. Audubon, _Audubon and His Journals_ (Bibl.
No. 86), vol. i, p. 8.

[43] For the original text of this act, here given in
translation, see Appendix I, Document No. 2.

[44] Research at Nantes in 1915 revealed that the baptismal
records of the parish of Saint-Similien were wanting for
the period from 1792 to 1803, so it is probable that they
were destroyed in the Revolution. The municipal archives of
Nantes possess a book of baptismal records of the city without
distinction of parishes, but this shows the names of neither
"Fougère," "Rabin," nor "Audubon," for the year in question.

The Abbè Tardiveau was _un prêtre assermenté_, or one of
those priests who had sworn in 1790 to recognize the civil
constitution of the clergy.

For copy of the act of baptism in the French original, see
Appendix I, Document No. 3. It is impossible to say whether
the heading as given in my copy of this act was in the
original or not.

[45] An English writer once gave the name of Audubon's mother
as Mlle. La Forêt.

[46] Audubon's signature underwent frequent variations during
the first twenty-five years of his life, but after 1820
he almost invariably signed himself "John J.," or "J. J.
Audubon." In the record of the civil marriage of his sister,
at Couëron in 1805, his name appears as "J. J. L. Audubon;" in
the "Articles of Association" with Ferdinand Rozier, signed at
Nantes in 1806, it is "Jean Audubon," and in the release given
on the dissolution of this partnership, at Ste. Geneviève, in
1811, the English form, "John Audubon," appears.

[47] This statement was made to me by Miss Maria R. Audubon
in 1914.

[48] For full text of the six wills drawn at different times
by Jean Audubon and his wife see Appendix I, Documents Nos.
13-18.

[49] See Chapter XVII.

[50] This unique document reads as follows:

"To all to whom these presents may come: know ye that I, John
Audubon, having special trust and confidence in my friend,
G. Loyen Du Puigaudeau, of the Department of Loire and
[_sic_] Inférieure, and Parish of Couëron, near Nantes, in
the kingdom of France, [do constitute him] my true and lawful
attorney, and the true and lawful attorney in fact of Jean
Rabin, husband of Lucy Bakewell, of the County of Henderson
and State of Kentucky, in the United States of America, for
us [?], the said Jean Rabin, and in our name to our use and
benefit, to ask, demand, sue for, recover, and receive all
and every part of the Real and Personal Estate, that is to
say Lands, Tenements, Grounds, Chattels, and credits, which I
have, or either of us, in the Department of Loire and [_sic_]
Inferieure in the kingdom of France, aforesaid, and to make
sale of the same, either at auction, or by contract of the
said Lands and Tenements, Goods, Chattells, and Credits, to
receive the money arising from said sale, to give any Receipt,
acquittance, or other discharge for the said money or any part
thereof, if money or specie shall be received, or for any
property he may receive in exchange or barter for said Real
and personal Estate, and our said attorney, or the attorney
of Jean Rabin aforesaid, is hereby authorized and empowered
to make, give, execute, and deliver any Deed, Covenant, or
transfer of said Real and Personal Estate to the purchaser of
all or any part thereof for us, or for the said Jean Rabin,
in as full and ample a manner as he, the said Jean, could do,
was he personally present in said Department, in the Kingdom.
In testimony whereof the said John Audubon has hereunto set
his hand and affixed his seal the Twenty Sixth day of July,
Anno Domini One thousand & Eight hundred and Seventeen.
JOHN J. AUDUBON [Seal within]

On the back of the preceding is the notary's certificate that
Jean Audubon appeared before him; seal affixed, and dated July
26, 1817.

Signed, "A[MBROZE] BARBAND,
Notary of Henderson County, Kentucky."

[51] See Chapter XVI.

[52] Vol. i, p. v; see Bibliography, No. 2.

[53] Published by Maria R. Audubon (Bibl. No. 78) in
_Scribner's Magazine_, vol. xiii (1893).

[54] Whether Jean Audubon had other sons born in Santo Domingo
is not recorded, and this reference of the naturalist, which
was repeated in his later sketch, cannot be verified.

[55] See Maria R. Audubon, _Audubon and His Journals_, (Bibl.
No. 86), vol. i, p. 7.

[56] See Note, Vol. I, p. 38.

[57] See J. W. Crozart, "Bibliographical and Genealogical
Notes Concerning the Family of Philippe de Mandeville, Ecuyer
Sieur de Marigny, 1709-1800," _Louisiana Historical Society
Publications_, vol. v (New Orleans, 1911). The portrait
referred to below now hangs in the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial
College, New Orleans.

[58] Gordon Bakewell (Bibl. No. 90), _ibid._, p. 31.

[59] See _Laws of the United States, Treaties, Regulations,
and Other Documents Respecting the Public Lands_, vol. i, p.
301 (Washington, 1836). In Number 756, entitled "An Act for
the Relief of Bernard Marigny, of the State of Louisiana,"
Marigny is mentioned as assignee of Antonio Bonnabel, and
his claim, which was confirmed, is described as follows: a
tract of land of 4,020 superficial arpents, in the State of
Louisiana, parish of St. Tammany, "bounded on the southwest
by Lake Ponchartrain, and on the northwest by lands formerly
owned by the heirs of Lewis Davis."

I am informed by Mr. Gaspar Cusachs, president of the
Historical Society of Louisiana, who has carefully
investigated the titles of this property and to whom I am
indebted for much information concerning it and its owners,
that the tract described above included the estate of
"Fontainebleau." Marigny's claim included also a smaller tract
of 774 arpents in the same parish. This land was bounded on
the southwest by Lake Ponchartrain, on the north by Castin
Bayou, and on the south by the tract acquired from Bonnabel;
it was granted to the heirs of Lewis Davis in 1777, and
certain of them filed a claim for it in 1812.

[60] One period of this service bears date of May 31.

[61] See Note, Vol. I, p. 27.

[62] The mayor, Saget, at the moment he was crossing the Place
Egalité (the Place Royale of today) received point-blank a
ball in his right thigh and another in his left leg, and lost
both limbs.

[63] For the revolutionary history of Nantes I am chiefly
indebted to M. A. Guépin's excellent _Histoire de Nantes_,
2d ed. (Nantes, 1839); Hipp. Etiennez, _Guide du Voyageur à
Nantes, et aux Environs_ (Nantes, 1861); A. Lescadien et Aug.
Laurent, _Histoire de la Ville de Nantes_, t.2 (Nantes, 1836);
F. J. Verger, _Archives curieuses de la Ville de Nantes et
des Départments de l'Ouest_, t. 5 (Nantes, 1837-41); and to
a scholarly monograph by Dugast-Matifeux, entitled _Carrier à
Nantes: Précis de la Conduite patriotique et révolutionnaire
des citoyens de Nantes_ (Nantes, 1885).

[64] The unpublished documents of this Department are
preserved in the archives of the Préfecture at Nantes,
and through the courtesy of their custodians I was enabled
to examine them freely. These documents deal with all the
revolutionary changes in church and state consequent upon the
breaking down of the old _régime_, and with the enrollment
of volunteers and the dispatch of armed forces to centers of
disturbance throughout that district. The present manuscripts
are said to represent but a fraction of those which originally
existed, the archives having been subjected to repeated
raids, thefts, and wanton destruction by fire and other
means. The most important have been listed and published by
the Government in summary form under the title, _Les Archives
du Département de la Loire Inférieure, 1790-1799_, Série L.
(Nantes, 1909).

[65] During the Revolution Jean Audubon always added to his
signature the cabalistic sign of three dots between parallel
lines, which possibly stood for the three watchwords of the
Republic—"_Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité_."

[66] In the published orders and correspondence of the
royalist General Boulart the following letter, given here
in translation, is addressed to Citizen Audubon: "I give you
notice, Citizen, that my aide-de-camp will arrive immediately
from Niort. I beg you to do all in your power to come this
evening to confer with me, since I have something to ask
you of the utmost importance. I also inform you that there
has arrived at Les Sables Citizen Anguis, the people's
representative. Perhaps it would be more advantageous that
you should see him this evening, and that tomorrow early we
attempt to bring all three together. You could depart in the
morning for Nantes." [Signed] "THE GENERAL BOULART." Jean
Audubon filed this letter from the enemy with his Department,
but his answer is not given. See Ch. L. Chassin, _Etudes
Documentaires sur La Révolution Française: La Vendée Patriote,
1793-1800_, vol. ii, p. 306, t. 1-4 (Paris, 1894-1895).

[67] _Délibérations-Arrêtés de Directoire du Département._ In
MSS. pp. 107-108.

[68] Jean was actually in command of this war vessel in March
of that year, as shown by a document given in full in Chapter
IV (p. 59).

[69] These records are on file in the archives of the
Department of Marine at Paris, but access to them will
doubtless be denied until peace is restored in Europe.

[70] M. L. Lavigne writes that he possesses a copy of a letter
addressed by M. G. L. du Puigaudeau to a lawyer in Paris, in
which it is stated that Lieutenant Audubon's losses amounted
to 1,500,000 francs. After making due allowance for the
psychological tendency to overestimate losses, especially when
sustained in remote and romantic lands, the true amount was
no doubt large.

[71] Or "lieutenant of a frigate," and corresponding to "mate"
in the merchant marine.

[72] The certificate which Lieutenant Audubon received at
the time of his discharge is preserved among the Lavigne
manuscripts and documents at Couëron, and is headed:

[Sidenote: PORT DE ROCHEFORT.]

ETAT des Services du Citoyen _Jean Audubon_ natif des Sables
d'Ollonne Département de La Vendée âgé de 58 ans.

It is signed by the Chief of Administration, Daniel, the Naval
Commander-in-Chief of the District, Martin, and by the naval
commissioner and clerk, February 26, 1801 (_le sept Ventose,
an 9 de la République_).

[73] Jean Audubon was 11 years, 6 months and 25 days in
the service of the merchant marine of France (_service au
commerce_), in the course of which he rose to the rank
of captain of the first grade in 1774. He served in the
French navy (_service à l'état_) 8 years, 2 months and 17
days, ranking successively as sailor, ensign-commander, and
lieutenant-commander (_lieutenant de vaisseau_); 8 months and
22 days of this period (1768-1769) were in intervals of peace,
and 7 years, 5 months and 25 days (1793-1801), in times of
war. Any conflict which may seem to occur in titles must be
attributed to this double service.

[74] This property was evidently encumbered to a considerable
extent, for he repeatedly filed with the Department letters
for the removal of restrictions placed upon it (_lettres pour
obtenir la main levée_). I cannot give the dates of these
letters, but believe that they were drawn in 1801 or shortly
after.

[75] This house was rented at the time to Françoise Mocquard
(see Note, Vol. I, p. 57), but it is probable that
Lieutenant Audubon had reserved rooms which were occupied
during his visits to the city while his permanent home was at
Couëron. In the power of attorney issued by Jean Audubon, his
wife, and Claude François Rozier, at Nantes, April 4, 1806,
the senior Audubon gave his residence as "rue Rubens, No. 39."

[76] Presumably a widow of one of the Coyrons (or Coironds),
merchants at Nantes, whose business interests in Santo Domingo
were entrusted to Jean Audubon's hands in 1783 (see Chapter
III, p. 38).

[77] The following extract from the registry of deaths at
Nantes, which is here given in translation, indicates that
Lieutenant Audubon passed away suddenly, since his death did
not occur in his own apartments (for original see Appendix I,
Document No. 19):

"In the year 1818, on the 19th day of February, at eleven
o'clock in the morning, in the presence of the undersigned,
deputies and officers of the civil service, delegates of
Monsieur the Mayor of Nantes, have appeared the Messrs.
Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau, gentleman of leisure, son-in-law
of the deceased, residing hereafter at Couëron, and Francis
Guillet, grocer, living on the Quai de la Fosse, of legal age,
who have certified in our presence that on this day, at six
o'clock in the morning, Jean Audubon, retired ship-captain,
pensioner of the State, born at Les Sables d'Olonne,
department of La Vendée, husband of Anne Moinet, died in the
house of Mlle. Berthier, in the Chaussée de le Madeleine, No.
24, 4th Canton.

"The witnesses have signed with us the present act, after it
was read to them. The deceased was 74 years of age."

{ GABRIEL LOYEN DU PUIGAUDEAU,
"Signed in the register:-{ GUILLET, and JOSEPH DE LA
{ TULLAYE, deputy

The Audubons and Du Puigaudeaus were probably buried in one
of the large cemeteries at Nantes, since no trace of their
graves has been found at Couëron by M. Lavigne.