John James Audubon, the most renowned artist and naturalist in nineteenth century America, left a legacy of keenly observant writings as well as a portfolio of exquisitely rendered paintings of the birds of North America.

Born April 26, 1785, Audubon was the illegitimate son of a French naval captain and a domestic servant girl from Santo Domingo (now Haiti). Audubon spent his childhood on his father's plantation in Santo Domingo and most of his late teens on the family estate in Mill Grove, Pennsylvania—a move intended to prevent him from being conscripted into the Napoleonic army.

Audubon's early pursuits centered around natural history, and he was continuously collecting and drawing plants, insects, and birds. His habit of keeping meticulous field notes of his observations at a young age. It was at Mill Grove...