Following LSU campus guidance issued on Friday, March 13, all events of 30 or more people are cancelled through May 30, 2020. Audubon Day will not be held on Saturday, April 25. We hope to reschedule for later in 2020.

The LSU Libraries will host its annual viewing of the famed double elephant folio edition of John James Audubon’s Birds of America (London, 1827-1838) in the McIlhenny Room of Hill Memorial Library on the LSU campus.

What to expect

During each viewing, the four volumes of Birds of America will be paged through simultaneously. Volumes 1-3 contain 100 plates each, Volume 4 contains 135 plates. Additional reference materials and other bird-related books from the library’s collections will also be on display during the viewing. It is not possible to see every plate in Birds of America during the viewing – but that’s a good reason to return next year! Visitors are welcome to take photographs without flash.

In addition to the viewings, there will be lagniappe including exhibitions, a coloring table, live birds from the LSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital's rehabilitated resident raptors program, and representatives from LSU Press and Audubon Louisiana. This is a unique, fun, and memorable event for all ages. We encourage visitors to enjoy the lagniappe before or after your scheduled one-hour viewing.

Parking and Logistics

Free parking is readily accessible in the Indian Mounds lot, directly behind Hill Memorial Library and in the Peabody lot adjacent to the library. The library's street address is 95 Fieldhouse Dr. Baton Rouge, LA.

To prevent any possible damage to the Birds of America folios during the viewings, we recommend minimizing the personal belongings you bring to the event. Bags, purses, and other bulky items will need to be placed to the side of the room during the viewing or checked in a locker prior to the viewing. Food and drink are not permitted in the McIlhenny Room.

Learn more about Birds of America

A renowned masterpiece of natural history art, Birds of America records the rich bird and plant life Audubon saw and drew first-hand when he lived in Louisiana in the 1820s. The edition is known as the “elephant” folio because of its large size, with each of its 435 pages measuring 39 by 27 inches. Publication took eleven years, from 1827 to 1838. LSU's copy of the Birds of America was purchased with a grant from the Crown Zellerbach Foundation in 1964, and it has been shown in various venues over the years. These books are part of the E.A. McIlhenny Natural History Collection at Hill Memorial Library, one of the most prestigious collections of its kind, with particular strengths in New World botanical and ornithological illustration.

The Birds of America double elephant folio was restored in 2008 through a generous donation by the Coypu Foundation to enable conservation of this important work. Over the course of more than a year, the work was painstakingly completed. LSU Libraries’ copy belonged to one of the original subscribers, the Duke of Northumberland (1785-1847)

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