This document provides an overview of several important figures in the history of ornithology and bird illustration before John James Audubon, including Mark Catesby, Alexander Wilson, John White, Ulisse Aldrovandi, Leonardo da Vinci, and Carolus Linnaeus. It showcases examples of their watercolors, etchings, and engraved illustrations of various bird species from the 16th-19th centuries.

1. Audubon and his Predecessors:
Catesby and Wilson

2. “Scala naturae” (Great Chain of Being), Didacus Valdes, Rhetorica Christiana, 1579

3. Leonardo da Vinci, bird studies, c. 1500

4. Leonardo da Vinci, designs for flying machines, c. 1500

5. Ulisse Aldrovandi, Ornithologiae (Bologna, 1599)

6. Watercolor for Ulisse Aldrovandi, Ornithologiae (Bologna, 1599)

7. John White, Head of a Brown Pelican, 1585-93
Watercolor over graphite on paper, 18.5 x 22.4 cm., British Museum

8. John White, Flamingo, 1585-1593 John James Audubon, American Flamingo, 18
Watercolor over graphite on paper, 29.6 x 19.7 cm., British Museum, London Watercolor, New-York Historical Society

9. John White, Flamingo, 1585-1593 Robert Havell after Audubon, American Flamingo, 1838
Watercolor on paper, British Museum, London Hand-colored engraving, 38 ¼ x 25 ½ in., from The Birds of America, pl. 431

10. Mark Catesby, Flamingo, 1729-43 Robert Havell after Audubon, American Flamingo, 1838
Hand-colored etching, 13 ¾ x 10 ¼ in., from The Natural History of Carolina, Hand-colored engraving, 38 ¼ x 25 ½ in., from The Birds of America, pl. 431
Florida, and the Bahama Islands, 1731-43, vol. 1, pl. 73

11. Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné), Systema Naturae, 1735

12. Mark Catesby, Fishing Hawk, from The Natural History of John James Audubon, Fish Hawk or Osprey, 1806
Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands, 1731-43 Houghton Library, Harvard University

13. Mark Catesby, White Ibis, from The Robert Havell after John James Audubon, White Ibis, 1834
Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and Hand-colored engraving, 26 x 20 ¾ in., from The Birds of America, pl. 222
the Bahama Islands, 1731-43

14. William Bartram, Great Alachua Savana, 1765
Ink on paper, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia

15. Lawson after Alexander Wilson, Carolina Parrot, Havell after Audubon, Carolina Parakeet, 1825
from American Ornithology, pl. 26 Hand-colored engraving, 33 ¼ x 23 ½ in., from The Birds of America, pl. 26

16. John James Audubon, White-headed Eagle, 1828
Hand-colored engraving, 37 x 25 ¼ in., from The Birds of America, plate 31

17. Lawson after Wilson, White-headed Eagle, 1811 Havell after Audubon, White-headed Eagle, 1828
Hand-colored engraving, 10 x 13 ¼ in.,
from Wilson, American Ornithology, vol. 4, pl. 36 Hand-colored engraving, 37 x 25 ¼ in., from The Birds of America, pl. 31

18. Lawson after Wilson, White-headed Eagle, 1811 Havell after Audubon, White-headed Eagle, 1828
Hand-colored engraving, 10 x 13 ¼ in.,
from Wilson, American Ornithology, vol. 4, pl. 36 Hand-colored engraving, 37 x 25 ¼ in., from The Birds of America, pl. 31
American Bald Eagle, collected by
Alexander Wilson in Egg Harbor,
NJ, prepared by Charles Willson
Peale, c.1811
Museum of Comparative Zoology,
Harvard University
American Bald Eagle, prepared by member of the Peale
family for Peale Museum, c.1805
Independence National Historical Park Museum, Philadelphia

19. Audubon, White-headed Eagle, 1828
Hand-colored engraving, 37 x 25 ¼ in., from The Birds of America, plate 31
John James Audubon,
Wild Turkey, 1825
Watercolor and graphite on paper, 38 ¾
x 26 in., New-York Historical Society
Charles Willson Peale, The Artist in His Museum, 1822
Oil on canvas, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

20. Alexander Wilson and Titian Ramsay Peale, John James Audubon, Wild Turkey, 1825
Wild Turkey Male and Female, Watercolor and graphite on paper, 38 ¾ x 26 in., New-York Historical Society
from Wilson, American Ornithology