Arctic Tern

Artist John James Audubon (American, 1785 - 1851)

Engraver Robert Havell Jr. (American, 1793 - 1878)

Date1835

Mediumetching and aquatint on paper, hand-colored

DimensionsDouble elephant: 38 1/4 x 25 1/2 inches (97.2 x 64.8 cm)

Credit LinePartial Bequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965 and Partial Gift of Nelda C. Stark, 1973

Object number11.1.2.E.44_Arctic Tern

ClassificationsPages

DescriptionThis page is bound in Volume V (11.1.2.E).

Label TextWith a range of 22,000 miles, the Arctic Tern has one of the longest known migration paths. It travels from its breeding grounds in Greenland and Iceland to its winter grounds in Antarctica. With this wide range, it is believed to experience the most sunlight of any living creature. Audubon wrote “On the 5th of August, in Labrador, the young birds were gambolling along with their parents, over the shores of Bras d'Or Harbour, and when we left that country the Terns still remained, so that I am unable to state at what particular period they commence their journey southward .”

ProvenanceArtist; by inheritance to his son John Woodhouse Audubon [1812-1862]; purchased December 7, 1861 by John Taylor Johnston [1]; by inheritance to his son John Herbert Johnston as of 1893; by inheritance to his grandson William W. Appleton [1915-2014]; as of November 26, 1939 (Harry A. Levinson, The Chaucer Head Book Shop, New York) [2]; purchased 1939 by Cornelius D. Ehret, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; purchased April 29, 1954 through (Nada Kramar, Washington, D.C.) by H.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; ½ interest bequeathed September 2, 1965 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation [3]; remaining ½ interest gifted February 1, 1973 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation by Nelda C. Stark [1909-1999]; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art | 1. See letter and bill of sale from John Woodhouse Audubon to John Taylor Johnston (object number 11.2.105.A-C) | 2. The New York Times Book Review, "Notes on Rare Books," November 26, 1939. | 3. Owned jointly by H.J. Lutcher Stark and Nelda C. Stark until his death at which point his ½ interest was bequeathed to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation.

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