Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 1
Birds of America exhibition opens to the public in Glasgow
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 1

Birds of America exhibition opens to the public in Glasgow

5 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 1
  • Two first-edition volumes owned by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow since 1838 are on display free at its St Vincent Street library.
  • The rare work, with only one plate shown at a time because of its size, is among the world's most valuable books; a Liverpool copy was recently insured for £7.5m.
  • The exhibition also highlights Audubon's Scottish links and acknowledges that enslaved and Indigenous people contributed to creating the celebrated ornithological work.
How does the Glasgow exhibit confront the racist history behind Audubon's celebrated masterpiece?
With a £7.5M value, what techniques protect this fragile 200-year-old book during its public viewing?
How does this 19th-century art of now-extinct birds serve as a warning for today's biodiversity crisis?