12 Audubon Original Octavo Golden Eagle, 1st edition, matted

11 1/2 x 14 1/2 Original 1840 Edition Audubon Octavo in excellent condition and professionally pre-matted. Can be displayed as is or dropped into a frame.  When the production of the double elephant prints was nearing its completion, Audubon began a new undertaking. This was to be a miniature edition of the Birds of America, accompanied by text.  This work is often termed The Royal Octavo Edition, the octavo referring to the size of the paper being about 1/8 the size of a normal folio, or about 6 1/2 x 10 1/2inches. Audubon himself called it "The Birds in Miniature" and you will also hear it simply being termed the 'miniatures'.  It was produced in Philadelphia, USA, by John T. Bowen. Octavo editions were reductions of originals, this being accomplished through the camera lucida process, which through the use of a prism, allowed Bowen to project a reverse image of the original print in reduced size onto the smaller stone. (These were stone lithographs, not copper plate engravings) The