The Bear

This four-page manuscript, in Audubon’s hand, was a gift of John S. McIlhenny, who donated it in 1981. The text was printed in the Ornithological Biography as one of the episodes designed to “relieve the tedium [of descriptive ornithology] by presenting occasional descriptions of the scenery and manners of the land” in which the birds were native.

This manuscript, here labeled “Bear Killing,” was printed as “Scipio and the Bear” when it was published. The story presents a vivid depiction of a gruesome hunt, in which the hunters, who originally set out to save a field of corn from marauding bears, in fact destroy far more than the bears would have done.

Critics have commented on the likelihood that William Faulkner was influenced by this episode when he wrote “The Bear,” which was first published as a short story and later appeared as a chapter in Go Down, Moses (1942).

The manuscript is written on Whatman paper, watermarked 1830. It contains about 40 corrections, plus a 7-line paragraph at the end labeled “belonging to the introduction.” Also of interest is the marginal note at the top, “Episode XIX follows pl. 95,” which was made by well-known ornithologist Elliott Coues. With Maria Audubon, Coues edited  Audubon’s journals for their initial publication in 1897.

John James Audubon, “The Bear,” 4-page autograph manuscript. McIlhenny AEE9756.