Charles Harper's Birds & Words

I received Charles Harper's Birds & Words from my husband for Christmas, a book that has long been on my wish list. It is a reprinting of Harper's 1972 book presenting the bird portfolios sold at $5 each in the back of the Ford Times, the Ford Motor Company's lifestyle magazine. 

Harper's original introduction was of great interest to me as I knew little about the life of the artist. He grew up on a farm, but farm life disagreed with him. He was repulsed by how farm animals were treated. After his service in the army he spent some unsatisfying time in New York City before studying at the Cincinnati Art Academy. A trip out west gave him direction. As he studied nature he began to understand the complexity of human existence and our relationship to nature. He wrote, 

"...the more I learn about nature, the more I am troubled by unanswerable questions about human exploitation of plants and animals and our casual assumption that the natural world is here only to serve people. I see all living things as fellow creatures with as might right as I have to be here and to continue living. I have to ask myself how man, the predator with a conscience, can live without carrying a burden of guilt for his existence at the expense of other creatures. Where does none draw the line between preservation of nature and preservation of self?"

Western Tanager from Ten Western Birds

The book is divided into the six portfolios:

• Ten Western Birds, from Ford Times 1956
• America's Vanishing Birds, from Ford Times 1957
• Ten Southern Birds, from Ford Times 1958
• American Bird Architects, from Ford Times 1959
• American Bird Census, from Ford Times 1960
• Ten Collector Prints

Marsh Hen from America's Vanishing Birds

Each bird is given two pages, one page showing the illustration and a page for Harper's descriptions, which are often whimsical, a pure delight to read. The title font Kismet was specially chosen by Harper for the book. 

Meadowlark from American Bird Architects

Baltimore Oriel from American Bird Architects

Readers also learn about how Harper developed his unique style, paring images down to geometrical shapes.

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher from Ten Western Birds

Although I do love all the illustrations, it was the section of America's Vanishing Birds that moved me the most. These birds became extinct directly by human hands: The Great Auk, destroyed by 1844; the Carolina Paroquet, gone by 1904, hunted for ladies' hats; the Passenger Pigeon last seen in 1914; the Heath Hen which in 1830 was commonly found around Boston; and the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, Labrador Duck, and Eskimo Curlew. Endangered, but still with us, he included the Whopping Crane, Trumpeter Swan, California Condor (extinct in 1987 but being reintroduced), and the Everglade Kite.

I knew the book would be a visual feast, and that a study of the art would be interesting. I had not realized that Harper was also "an alternative Audubon" who was an environmentalist at heart.

Charlie Harper's Birds and Words
www.ammobooks.com
$27.95 US/$31.95 Canada/$14.95 GBP
ISBN: 978-193442905-1