John James Audubon

LSU Libraries' holdings of material by and about John James Audubon were acquired over many decades, and are found both in Special Collections housed in Hill Memorial Library, as well as in the general circulating collection in the main LSU Library. In addition to Audubon's most famous work, the elephant folio edition of The Birds of America (1827-1838), this guide includes listings of other significant works by and about him which are held at LSU Libraries. Listed holdings consist primarily of books, journal articles, and manuscript materials, and include items of scholarly as well as general interest. The listings are representative of the wide array of Audubon-related material held, but they are not exhaustive. Links to a selection of external digital resources and websites pertaining to Audubon's life and work are also provided.

Additional print materials about Audubon held in LSU Libraries, as well as books and articles available in electronic formats to current LSU students, faculty, and staff through institutional database subscriptions, can be found by searching in Discovery on the Libraries homepage. Unrestricted access to digital versions of some of the 19th-century and early 20th-century books and journals referenced in this guide is available on external sites such as Biodiversity Heritage Library and HathiTrust.

(Image: American Redstart, detail, The Birds of America folio edition, Plate 40. The original drawing was made in August 1821 while Audubon was at Oakley Plantation in Louisiana.)

This guide was first created in Spring 2021 by Christina Riquelmy, Rare Book Cataloger, with assistance from Leah Wood Jewett, Exhibitions Coordinator, LSU Libraries Special Collections. It continues to be revised with the help of John David Miles, Curator of Books, to reflect new acquisitions and current scholarship.