Guernsey's will showcase 150 original aquatint engravings by John James Audubon in a dedicated auction to be held May 11 in New York.
 Guernsey's has previously sold another example of Audubon's Male Turkey for $170,800 in December 2012 - a good sign for the current lot |
The Havell Edition double elephant folio-sized works, many of which are in pristine condition, will be led by a depiction of a male turkey from Audubon's renowned Birds of America book. Selling at $100,000-125,000, it is joined by a series of prints from Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America.
Birds of America, published in a series between 1827 and 1838, consists of hand-coloured life-size prints of America's wildlife, including six now-extinct birds. It is currently the world's most valuable printed book, after an example sold for $11.2m in 2010.
Further highlights include Audubon's Snowy Owl, which is valued at $100,000-150,000. According to Guernsey's, another example of this print - one of the most prized in Audubon's oeuvre - sold for $186,700 at Christie's in 2004.
Of Audubon's quadrupeds, the Canada lynx takes the lead with an estimate of $10,000-12,000. It is followed by the American black bear, which will sell for $7,000-8,000.
Also starring in the sale is a collection of fine botanical prints by Pierre-Joseph Redoute, the Belgian botanist nicknamed The Raphael of Flowers. Redoute was the official artist of Queen Marie Antoinette, in a time when Paris was the cultural and scientific centre of Europe.
His fantastically vivid depiction of Bracteose Pitcairnea holds the highest estimate of his works at $40,000-50,000. The current world record for Redoute is held by a watercolour rose that sold for £265,000 ($412,186) in 2010.
Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for the results of this sale and to keep ahead of the latest trends in collecting.
