America’s Other Audubon

Few people ever get to see bird nests anymore. Recent conservation legislation has instilled in us a sense of guilt if we even happen to chance upon one accidentally, so it’s hardly surprising that most of us have forgotten, or never even knew, what beautiful things birds’ eggs and nests are.

This book, a collection of 68 exquisite lithographs of the eggs and nests of the birds of Ohio, is a thing of beauty in itself and would make an admirable gift for anyone with an appreciation of the natural world. Don’t be put off by the fact that the birds are American or that the subject is so specialised. From cover to cover, everything about it is a sheer treasure – the delicately embossed quarter-binding in duck-egg blue, the historical background, and of course the illustrations themselves. It would be hard to find a more beautifully produced book for the price.

The book is a facsimile of the little-known gem Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of the Birds of Ohio, of which fewer than 100 copies were published, by subscription, in the late 19th century. Joy Kiser came across the book by chance when she first took up the post of librarian at the Museum of Natural History in Cleveland, Ohio, more than century later, and has done an admirable job in bringing it out of obscurity and gaining it the recognition it deserves.

Although it was undoubtedly of considerable scientific importance, covering a niche in American ornithology hitherto overlooked in the literature, the real value of this book is in its human element. It was the brainchild of troubled young spinster Genevieve Jones, who came from a closely knit and well-to-do family in an isolated Ohio community. ‘Protected’ by her parents from an unsuitable marriage, Genevieve – or Gennie as she was known – applied herself to the task of producing the book, only to die of typhoid fever after the publication of the first five prints. Her family channelled their grief into seeing her project through to completion; her brother collecting the nests, her father financing the publication and printing, and her mother, Virginia, completing the drawings – certainly the most challenging task of all.

Although the comparison with Audubon in the title could be described as a delusion of grandeur, this understated and elegant book is nevertheless a priceless achievement at every level.