"The story of John James Audubon is a dramatic and surprising one. He saw more of the North American continent than virtually anyone of his time, and came to stand for America-- the America of wilderness and wild things. Audubon was a self-taught artist and a self-made man whose life was rife with action and contradiction. He played the debonair European when he visited the American frontier, and then the wild woodsman in the drawing rooms of Europe. As an artist and a naturalist his achievements are monumental. The Birds of America -- an astonishing collection of 435 life-size prints -- was the largest book printed in the 19th century. Audubon was not only the artist; he was the writer, publisher and promoter. His early subscribers included the kings of England and France."--Container.