28 AMERICAN HISTORY
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Broad-Winged Hawk
“The Broad-Winged Hawk
is seldom seen in Louisiana,
and I believe never except
during the severe winters
that occasionally occur in
our Middle and Eastern
Districts. I have observed
that its usual range seldom
extends far west of the
Alleghany Mountains; but in
Virginia, Maryland, and all
the States to the eastward
of these, it is by no means
a rare species. I have shot
several in the Jerseys, the
State of New York, near the
Falls of Niagara, and also
in the Great Pine Forest.”
STYLE
In 2010, a complete first
edition of The Birds of
America from Lord Hes-
keth’s collection sold at
Sotheby’s in London for
£7,321,250—roughly $11.5
million—a record price
for a printed book. On
January 20, 2012, a like
volume offered in New
York by heirs of the Duke
of Portland sold for $7.9
million at Christie’s. That
sale brought to 120 the
number of known
surviving copies of
Birds—107 held by
institutions and 13
in private hands.