First published in book form in 1878, Studer's Ornithology contains over 700 species and varieties of American birds. Jacob Henry Studer was a printer, lithographer, painter and popular ornithologist active in Columbus, Ohio from the 1860s to the 1880s. A member of the American Ornithologists' Union, Studer arranged the birds in this book acording to that group's classification scheme. Known as "the poor man's Audubon," this book was the first large-format illustrated bird identification book that was affordable for most of the public. Plates were made from drawings by Theodore Jasper, a portrait painter and photographic colourist who was active from the 1840s to the 1880s. A beautiful book.