Born in 1785, John James Audubon was the son of a French sea captain. He grew up in France, and at the age of 18 was sent to America where he fell in love with nature, observing and drawing birds. After his last business venture failed and he became bankrupt, Audubon decided to follow his interest in ornithology. Adventure in his blood, he set off into the wild with artist materials in hand and his big idea; to identify, paint and record all of America’s bird species. When he travelled to England years later, his first ‘Birds of America’ volume was published and became an overnight success! By 1831 he was recognised as the leading naturalist of his country, getting as close to nature as you could possibly get and becoming one of the “men of science”. The full collection contains 435 life-size watercolours of detailed studies and stunning illustrations showing all different types of North American birds in their natural environments; all reproduced from hand-engraved plates. John James Audubon is celebrated for giving the world the first great collection of American birds and his work is considered the archetype of wildlife illustration.