Introduced by Ben Forkner, an authority on the life and writings of Audubon and a founding member of the Audubon Scientific Committee in France, the portfolio is composed of 244 pages with full page illustrations in a limited edition of 2500 copies.
The texts from Audubon himself are chosen first to illustrate his approach of drawing in "My Style of Drawing Birds," and his daily life, through letters to his wife, Lucy, and one to John Bachmann, during his trips to Florida, to the Gulf of Mexico and to Labrador, while making his famous Birds of America. Printed on Main Fleurie paper made from new textile fibre, manufactured by Arches in the Vosges, specially for the book. Due to the slow cylinder rotation, the paper has a felt-like softness, very close to handmade paper.
"...the most magnificent monument to ornithology ever raised - if Mr. Audubon's work is completed - with the magnificence of its execution, we must admit that America has outdone the old world" - 1828 quotation from Baron G. Cuvier, Member of the Academy of Sciences of Paris