Saturday, July 23, 2011

Appetite for Birds (Visually, That Is)







In going through my mother's house last week (we're moving her to Florida in the fall), I came across this small bird book printed in 1905, written by Chester A. Reed. It doesn't say, but I imagine he is also the artist. The descriptions include this priceless statement about the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker: "Range: Formerly the South Atlantic States and west to Texas and Indian Territory, but now confined to a few isolated portions of Florida and, possibly, Indian Territory." Indian Territory included part of Oklahoma, which was not granted statehood until 1907, and Arizona and New Mexico joined the Union in 1912. The illustrations are charming, and I am sure they will be a great source of inspiration for future mosaics or drawings. As anyone who reads this blog knows, birds are my favorite subject!

No comments:

Post a Comment