John James Audubon - Later Career

Later Career

Audubon returned to America in 1829 to complete more drawings for his magnum opus. He also hunted animals and shipped the valued skins to British friends. He was reunited with his family. After settling business affairs, Lucy accompanied him back to England. Audubon found that during his absence, he had lost some subscribers due to the uneven quality of coloring of the plates. Others were in arrears in their payments. His engraver fixed the plates and Audubon reassured subscribers, but a few begged off. He responded, " 'The Birds of America' will then raise in value as much as they are now depreciated by certain fools and envious persons." He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1830.

He followed Birds of America with a sequel Ornithological Biographies. This was a collection of life histories of each species written with Scottish ornithologist William MacGillivray. The two books were printed separately to avoid a British law requiring copies of all publications with text to be deposited in Crown libraries, a huge financial burden for the self-published Audubon. Both books were published between 1827 and 1839.

During the 1830s, Audubon continued making expeditions in North America. During a trip to Key West, a companion wrote in a newspaper article, "Mr. Audubon is the most enthusiastic and indefatigable man I ever knew...Mr. Audubon was neither dispirited by heat, fatigue, or bad luck...he rose every morning at 3 o'clock and went out...until 1 o'clock." Then he would draw the rest of the day before returning to the field in the evening, a routine he kept up for weeks and months. In the posthumously published book, The life of John James Audubon, derived primarily from his notes, Audubon relates that he visited the northeastern Florida coastal sugar plantation of John Bulow in early January, 1832. The sugar mill was built under the direction of a Scottish engineer who accompanied Audubon on an excursion in the region. The mill was destroyed in the Seminole Wars, and is preserved today as the Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park. In 1833, Audubon set forth from Maine accompanied by his son John, and five other young colleagues to explore the ornithology of Labrador. On the return voyage, the Ripley made a stop at St.George's, Newfoundland, and Audubon and his assistants documented 36 species of birds.

Some of his most famous works are believed to be painted at the house and gardens of Capt. John H. Geiger, who was Key West's first harbor pilot, which later became Audubon House and Tropical Gardens.

In 1839, having finished the Ornithological Biography, Audubon returned to the United States with his family. He bought an estate on the Hudson River (now Audubon Park). In 1842, he published an octavo edition of Birds of America, with 65 additional plates. It earned $36,000 and was purchased by 1100 subscribers. Audubon spent much time on "subscription gathering trips", drumming up sales of the octavo edition, as he hoped to leave his family a sizable income.