The John James Audubon Papers is comprised primarily of correspondence between Audubon and his wife, Lucy Bakewell Audubon, 1826-1832, and his son, Victor Gifford Audubon, 1833-1834 and 1840-1844, with sporadic contact with both between 1836-1839. There are a few partial journal entries and letters to other correspondents including: John James Abert, John Bachman, William Cooper, Richard Harlan, Thomas McCulloch, Jr., The Earl of Shrewsbury, Sir J. Walthen Waller, Henry McMurtry, Baron Rothschild. The majority of these letters are one time correspondence to each name listed.
Of the fifty-six letters sent to Lucy Audubon between 1826-1832, most of them describe the day-to-day effort of Audubon to accomplish his goal of publishing The Birds of America. From 1826-1829, he relates his first trip to Great Britain, which includes his arrival in Liverpool, his trip to Edinburgh, his touring for subscribers in England and in France, and his employment of W.H. Lizars and Robert Havell. Upon returning to America in 1829, he writes of his work while painting in Great Egg Harbor and the Great Pine Forest. Lucy returns to England with Audubon in April 1830 but he continues to communicate his progress as he travels and she remains in Liverpool. These letters conclude with their return to America, and his trips to Charleston, S.C., where he first meets John Bachman, and to Florida in 1831-32.
There are 108 letters to Victor G. Audubon between 1833-1834, 1840-1844. With Victor in London, the majority of 1833 letters concern the completion of the prints, the exchanging of money, and directions on how to proceed with Havell and others. Letters of 1833 and 1834 contain a discussion of George Ord's and Charles Waterton's attack on his credibility with Audubon and Bachman's planned response.
In 1837, while Lucy remains in London with Victor, Audubon returns to America and communicates his southern expedition with John W. Audubon and Edward Harris. The family is together in England between mid-1837 to September 1839.
The remaining correspondence, 1840-1844, are to Victor and the family now settled in New York. Audubon travels to New England, Baltimore, Washington, and Montreal recruiting subscribers. Of particular note, the collection contains no letters from March to September 1843, the time-span of Audubon's Quadrupeds expedition.
As both Lucy Audubon and Victor Audubon served as business agents for John James Audubon, much of the content of the collection is business-like. Descriptions of his financial status, plans on how to proceed, lists with names of subscribers, and reports of work in progress are the overall content.
Some names of note within the collection include: Nicholas Berthoud, Charles Lucien Bonaparte, John George Children, Edward Harris, Robert Havell, Jr., George Ord, William Rathbone, Charles Waterson, Alexander Wilson, and those names listed as other correspondents.
Half of this collection is published in Letters of John James Audubon, 1826-1840, edited by Howard Corning. Boston: Club of Odd Volumes, 2 v., 1930. The May 31, 1821 journal entry has various publications including "The Fair Incognito" in Audubon by Himself, edited by Alice Ford. Garden City, N.Y.: The American Museum of Natural History, 1969. These two publications are invaluable companion research tools. Also, there are typed transcriptions contained within for some of the letters.