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Top Audubon
Amsterdam Edition Prints
by Ron Flynn
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here to buy the Audubon Price Guides
The
1971-72 Audubon Amsterdam Edition was the first complete
reproduction of John James Audubon’s original (1826-38) Birds
of America Havell Edition. The (1858-60) Bien Edition was to
be the first complete reproduction, but was never completed,
mostly due to the outbreak of our Civil War. The 1985 Abbeville
Edition also reproduced all of the prints in the original Havell
Edition. Finally, the Audubon Centennial Edition (2005-06) is in
production, and will be the 3rd complete reproduction
edition.The Amsterdam Edition consists of 435 full double elephant
folio (DEF) sized facsimile reproductions of the entire Havell
Edition. They were produced using color offset lithography, and
printed on a watermarked 100% cotton rag acid-free paper. Only 250
complete sets of this limited edition were produced.
Because
of the limited number (250) for each print, and the fact that the
Amsterdams were the 1st complete reproduction edition,
they are very popular and highly collectible. Initially, when
these sets were first offered for sale, dealers bought the vast
majority of them. In recent years dealers have been selling off
individual prints, from these sets, so that at times the market
seems flooded with them. They are also sold on eBay in large
numbers. In 2005-2006, retail prices for these prints actually
declined from previous years. As long as there is an oversupply,
prices will remain low.
Well
over 300 of the 435 different prints have retail prices in the
$50-$250 range, and generally sell for considerably lower than
that on eBay. These “lower tier” prints (for a brief
discussion and explanation of “tiers”, see my article, Top
Audubon 1st Edition Octavo Bird Prints, on this
website), are affordable and quite collectible. However, they have
little chance of significant price appreciation in coming years.
Only
a few of the 435 different prints are popular enough to create
high demand and the highest prices. These “upper tier” prints
are listed in the table below. The 29 prints have retail prices of
around $1000.00 or more, and if any Amsterdam prints have a chance
of price appreciation, these would.
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