Dandy Roll has some neat prints, from a variety of distinguished artist (looking at you, J. J. Audubon), but one of our favorite series are these ornithology chromolithographs from Jacob Studer's The Birds of North America, featuring renderings based on the drawings of Theodore Jasper. Our collection comes from 1888, from the second edition of Birds.
Who was Jacob Studer?
Born in 1840 in Columbus, Ohio, Jacob Studer was a popular printer, painter, and ornithologist. He travelled the U.S. in the mid-1800's, documenting the bird species of the country, their habitat, as well as the local folklore about the various species. His wife and daughter passed away in the early 1880's, and Studer moved to New York, New York in 1887. Studer himself passed away in his office in 1904, and was survived by his son.
But wait, who was Theodore Jasper?
While Studer was the author and publisher of The Birds of North America, Jasper created the illustrations that the chromolithographs were drawn from. Born in Prussia in 1814, Jasper eventually emigrated to Columbus, Ohio in the mid 1800's. While a prolific artist, Jasper never received the acclaim paid to numerous other ornithologists; however, the popularity of The Birds of North America, and its accessibility to a wider audience, brought Jasper's work to more people than artists such as Alexander Wilson, Audubon, or John Gould.
The Birds of North America
We absolutely love this collection and Jasper's chromolithographs. They were some of the first pieces that we found, and several of them hang in our house. You can peruse through these pieces here!
