Whether you are an art enthusiast, a collector of rare antique books or simply a bird lover, the exhibition of limited edition posters of bird illustrations from the book Birds of America, on the fourth floor of Central Embassy, is worth checking out.
American flamingo.
On display are 13 individual sets of bird illustrations such as American white pelican, Mallard Duck and Carolina Parakeet. These posters are limited versions of life-size photographs taken by 80 megapixel camera from an original copy of Birds of America, kept at Meisei University in Japan.
The illustration book by naturalist, ornithologist and painter John James Audubon is known as one of the most expensive books in the world. Audubon painted 489 different types of birds indigenous to the US during 1827-1839.
Praised for its high aesthetic quality, revolutionary use of printing technology and historical value, the book has become sought after among rare book collectors.
Only 116 copies of Birds of America are known to be available around the world and they fetched high prices.
At the Sotheby's rare book auction in 2010, a copy of the book is sold to an unnamed private collector at the price of 363 million baht.
This exhibition is the part of the launch of the limited reprinted book versions of Birds of America by iGroup Press Limited, a Bangkok-based company providing scientific research information in print and digital media.
The company is solely authorised to reprint the book from the copy at Meisei University. It is making only 100 limited versions of books and individual posters.For those interested in the poster versions, they are available at approximately 33,000 baht each, with half of the proceeds going to the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer Foundation under The Royal Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen.
The exhibition will wrap up on Jan 15. Central Embassy is on Phloenchit Road. Call 02-119-7777.
Pileated woodpecker.
Mallard duck.
