Birds of the Pacific Slope by Andrew Jackson Grayson

Arion Press – Limited Edition

Birds of the Pacific Slope by Andrew Jackson Grayson, a portfolio of 156 bird portraits, with a companion volume containing a preface by S. Dillon Ripley, a biography of Grayson by Lois Chambers Stone, and bird biographies and field notes on the plates by Andrew Jackson Grayson, 1986.

Andrew Jackson Grayson, who came to San Francisco just before the Gold Rush, was inspired to paint by James John Audubon's Birds of America. He vowed to extend Audubon's visual record west, to include the Pacific Slope of California and Mexico. Bequeathed to the University of California in 1879 by Grayson's widow, his paintings became an important holding in The Bancroft Library, but remained largely unknown to the public. Lois Chambers Stone of Berkeley spent several years researching the biography of Grayson that accompanies the portfolio. The publication of this long-overlooked masterwork has now assured Grayson of a significant place in the history of American ornithology.

As a result of the Arion edition, an exhibition of Grayson's original watercolors and related material, including the book and portfolio, was mounted in 1987 at the Oakland Museum and the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D. C.

Format: portfolio, 25 by 19 inches, 160 leaves; companion volume, 12 by 9 inches, 436 pages. The types are handset and Monotype Van Dijck and handset Castellar capitals. The paper is Coventry Rag from the Parson Paper Mill, heavy weight for the plates, lightweight for the text. The plates were printed by Phelps-Schaefer Lithographics. The text was printed by letterpress. The portfolio box, companion volume, and slipcase are covered with tan Dutch linen cloth with gold-stamped leather labels. Edition of 400 sets, $4,500.00

About the Arion Press

Since its inception in 1974, the Arion Press has published 81 deluxe limited editions that are breathtaking in their scope and artistry. Combining notable literature illustrated with original artwork from prominent artists, Andrew Hoyem and his team at the Arion Press have carried on the tradition of the livre d’artiste in spectacular fashion. Michael Kimmelman of the New York Times put it best when he wrote, "The Arion Press produces some of the most beautiful limited-edition, hand printed books in the world."