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Audubon's Letter From Nantucket That the famous American John James Audubon was a visitor to Nantucket is not as well known as it might. The out standing ornithologist and artist, whose monumental Birds of America is one of the most sought after sets of books, came to this island in July, 1840, a part of his tour of New England, dur ing which he was successful in selling many of his folios. While here he wrote to his son, John J. Audubon, Jr., in care of the Rev. John Bachman, in Charleston, South Carolina, and the letter has been preserved, now being in the collections of the Peter Foulger Museum, of the Nantucket Historical Association. In March, 1919, Alexander Starbuck, the great historian of Nantucket, learned of the existence of the Audubon letter from advice contained in a communication to him by a dealer in anti quarian items, Otho Wiecker, of Boston. Mr. Wiecker had pur chased the letter from Patrick F. Madigan, a rare book and manuscript dealer in New York, paying $25 for it. The sale price to Mr. Starbuck was $28, plus 16 cents for registered mail. In his accompanying letter Mr. Wiecker indicated he had first attempted to sell the letter to some Nantucket residents, without success, writing, in part: "The worthy fathers of Nantucket are like most of the people, even the educated class, possessed of blunted senses as regards autograph values, which are vital products of the hand, often the heart, always the mind of the writer. . . ." Fortunately, Mr. Starbuck bought the letter and it eventually came to the Nantucket Historical Association. The document is in excellent condition, the writing clear and legible, with the old style "f" for "s," and filling three pages of a four-page folded sheet. The postmark is in a circle, containing the name "Nan tucket — Jul. 27—Ms." and the written cost "25," meaning 25 cents. Apparently Audubon had been here several days, as he mentions having received letters from his wife. He had first written home on July 24, 1840, reporting that he had come by steamer to Nantucket from New Bedford. The letter at the Peter Foulger Museum is dated July 26, 1840, written to his son, as already stated, and reads as follows: "My dear Johnny: You will of course have heard of my having left home, ere this reaches you; and like myself will feel desirous to know something of what happens when far away. The last news I have from you was received here 2 days ago, in a letter from Mamma and Victor, saying that your beloved Maria, had again assumed better symptoms, and that although you now did expect to remain at Charleston the whole of this summer, you had some hope of her recovery. May God grant this, and also your safe return to us at an earlier period than
