New York: John James Audubon, 1849. First edition hand-colored lithograph by John T. Bowen of Philadelphia after John James Audubon. Sheet: (22 x 28 inches). An iconic image of Western Americana from the folio first edition of Audubon's "Quadrupeds of North America," the greatest work of natural history illustration produced in America during the nineteenth century: "As long as our civilization lasts, America will be in debt to this genius." [Peterson] This fine plate is from the folio edition of Audubon's The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, which was produced entirely in the United States. The work was Audubon's last, and by 1846 he had to hand over the drawing of the final fifty plates to his sons, John Woodhouse and Victor Audubon. The production of the Quadrupeds was begun by Audubon and his sons at about the same time as the commercially-successful octavo edition of The Birds of America. Unlike the double-elephant folio, the Quadrupeds was produced entirely in the…