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Top Audubon 1st Edition Octavo Bird Prints
by
Ron Flynn
Click
here to buy the Audubon Price Guides
Of
all original Audubon prints, the 1st edition octavo bird prints
are the most popular and widely collected. When the collector has
a choice among many octavo bird editions, most prefer to own
prints from the 1st edition, rather than later editions. This is
analogous to collecting old or rare books. With 500 different bird
species in the octavo editions, it would seem there would be
something of interest for any collector.
However,
even with 500 different bird prints to choose from, they are by no
means priced equally in the marketplace. In every set of 500,
there is only one print of each bird species. It is estimated that
a little more than 1100 1st edition sets were issued. The overall
rarity of the edition, and its individual prints, is not great.
Many of the 500 different prints retail for $100.00 or less. On
the other hand, a few of the individual prints retail for nearly
$4000.00 each.
It
is the attractiveness of the bird species itself and its overall
popularity that accounts for the wide differences in prices among
the 500 prints. Birds like the Robin, Bluebird, and Cardinal (just
to name a few) are attractive and well known all over the country.
There are birds with strong regional popularity like the Flamingo,
Pelicans, Herons and Cranes. On the other hand, birds such as the
Sooty Tern and Black Tern aren't all that attractive or popular,
and prices for their prints are very low.
Dealers
and advanced collectors refer to the prices for various prints
and/or the individual prints themselves as being in different
"tiers". Think of "tiers" as meaning price
groups. The most popular prints of the 500, because of supply and
demand, will have the highest prices. The most popular or highest
priced prints are called “upper tier”. The least popular and
least expensive prints of the 500 are called “lower tier”.
Yes, there are prints that fall in between, but they are not
important for this discussion. There are no set standard dollar
amounts that divide or define various price groups or tiers. A
simple example might be that all prints priced at around
$1000.00 or more would be called upper tier. Prints priced below
around $250.00 would definitely be called lower tier.
Dealers’
prices for individual prints will vary widely across the country,
due to factors such as: print condition, dealer overhead and
markup, as well as regional demand. It is not that important to
dwell on the different tiers and their price structure. However,
do remember upper tier and lower tier. Upper tier prints are
popular and higher priced, but demand is also high, and they sell
quickly. Lower tier prints aren't so popular and their prices are
low, so demand is also low and a dealer may have them in inventory
for 4-5 years or more before they sell. Some would classify the
upper tier prints as fine art prints, but call the lower tier
prints as merely collectibles.
In
the table below, I have listed and ranked the top 50 1st edition
octavo bird prints based on popularity, supply and demand and
ultimately retail price. From my surveys and tracking of
dealers’ retail prices, these 50 prints have minimum retail
prices of $1000.00 or more, and all would be called upper tier
prints. Thus, only 10% of the 500 prints in the set would be upper
tier. There are only another 30 or so prints with minimum retail
prices between $500.00 and $1000.00. What is extremely important
to note is that well over 400, of the total 500 different prints,
would be considered lower tier prints. For collectors, this means
that the vast majority of original 1st edition Audubon octavo bird
prints are still affordable and collectible. However, if you ever
decide to sell any of your Audubon 1st edition octavo
bird prints, you are likely to hear from dealers that “I’m
only interested in buying upper tier prints, and I don’t want to
see any lower tier prints.” Retail prices will rise and fall
over the years, but the prints listed below will likely always be
upper tier.
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