About the Illustrations

Thomas Cole, Approaching Storm (ca. 1830–1840). Oil on canvas, 6 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm). Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art: Bequest of Daniel W. Dietrich II, 2016, 2016-3-45.

Thomas Cole, Clouds (ca. 1838). Oil on paper laid down on canvas, 8¾ × 10 7/8 in. (22.2 × 27.6 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Morris K. Jesup Fund, 2013.

Thomas Cole, Landscape, the Seat of Mr. Featherstonhaugh in the Distance (1826). Oil on canvas, 33 × 48 in. (83.8 × 121.9 cm). Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art: 125th Anniversary Acquisition. Gift of the McNeil Americana Collection, 2004, 2004-115-4.

Thomas Cole, The Tempest (ca. 1826). Oil on panel, 18¾ × 26 in. Courtesy High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchase with bequest of Clarissa Hale Poteat, 1987.100.

Description historique de Paris, et de ses plus beaux monumens, gravés en taille-douce par F.N. Martinet. Pour servir d'introduction à l'histoire de Paris & de la France, 1 (Paris, 1779-81), pl. XI. Courtesy Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University.

Thomas Doughty, Delaware Water Gap (1827). Oil on canvas; 23 3/8 × 32 3/8 in. (59.4 × 82.2 cm). Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of the family of J. Welles Henderson in honor of Robert L. McNeil, Jr., 2007, 2007-57-1.

Thomas Doughty, View of the Waterworks, on the Schuylkill Seen from the Top of Fairmount, Philadelphia (1826). Oil on canvas, 16 × 24 in. (40.6 × 61 cm). Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art: Purchased with the Edward and Althea Budd Fund, 2019.

Francis Guy, Winter Scene in Brooklyn (ca. 1819–1820). Oil on canvas, 58 3/8 × 74 9/16 in. (148.2 × 189.4 cm). Courtesy Brooklyn Museum, transferred from the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences to the Brooklyn Museum, 97.13.

George Harvey, Rain Clouds Gathering-Scene amongst the Allegheny Mountains (ca. 1840). Watercolor over graphite, 8 3/8 × 13 5/8 in. (21.3 × 34.6 cm). Courtesy Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 46.50.

Benjamin Latrobe, View of the North from the Lawn at Mount Vernon (1796). Watercolor on paper, 10½ × 7 in. Courtesy Maryland Historical Society, item ID 1960.108.1.2.10.

Market Square, Providence, Rhode Island, during the Great September Gale (1815). Black crayon and pastel, with graphite and stylus, scraped and incised in places, 15½ × 20¾ in. (39.4 × 52.7 cm). Courtesy The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Clare Caldwell 1930.733.

Charles Willson Peale, Exhumation of the Mastodon (ca. 1807). Oil on canvas; 49 × 61½ in. Courtesy Maryland Historical Society, item ID MA5911, Baltimore City Life Museum Collection, Gift of Bertha White in memory of her husband, Harry White.

Jane Braddock Peticolas, View of the West Front of Monticello and Garden (1825). Watercolor on paper, 13 5/8 × 18 1/8 in. (34.6 × 46 cm). Ellen Wayles Randolph Coolidge; by descent to Catherine Coolidge Lastavica; by gift to Thomas Jefferson Foundation, 1986. ©Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello.

Joshua Shaw, View in the Pennsylvania Countryside (1823). Oil on canvas, 25 5/8 × 36 1/8 in. Courtesy High Museum of Art, Atlanta, gift of the West Foundation in honor of Gudmund Vigtel, 2010.143.

Benjamin West, Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky (ca. 1816). Oil on slate, 13 3/8 × 10 1/16 in. (34 × 25.6 cm). Courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art: Purchased with The McNeil Acquisition Fund for American Art and Material Culture, 2019, 2019-79-1.

Instruments

Fahrenheit Thermometer and Barometer. Courtesy of the Division of the History of Science and Technology, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Portable Mercury Thermometer. Courtesy of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University.

Jefferson-owned Thermometer. ©Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello.

Mercury Barometer and Detail. Courtesy of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University.

Hair Hygrometer. Courtesy of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University.

Hair Hygrometer in Case. Courtesy of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University.

Birds

Thrush & Robin. Thomas Brown, Illustrations of the American Ornithology of Alexander Wilson and Charles Lucian Bonaparte (Edinburgh, Dublin, and London, 1835). Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, SIL-SIL7-226-02.

American Crow. John James Audubon, The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories (New York and Philadelphia, 1842), Vol. 4. Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 108485.

American Goldfinch. John James Audubon, The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories (New York and Philadelphia, 1841), Vol. 3. Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 108440.

American Pipit (Wagtail). John James Audubon, The Birds of America: From Original Drawings (1827-30). Courtesy of the Boston Public Library.

American Robin. John James Audubon, The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories (New York and Philadelphia, 1841), Vol. 3. Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 108401.

Bank Swallow. John James Audubon, The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories (New York and Philadelphia, 1840), Vol. 1. Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 108307.

Common Grackle. Mark Catesby, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands (Boston, 1754). Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 400654.

Common Tern. James E. De Kay, Zoology of New York: or, The New York Fauna (Albany, N.Y., 1843). Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 113667.

Dark-eyed Junco. John James Audubon, The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories (New York and Philadelphia, 1841), Vol. 3. Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 108426.

Eastern Bluebird. John James Audubon, The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories (New York and Philadelphia, 1841), Vol. 2. Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 108392.

Eastern Kingbird. Mark Catesby, The “Tyrant” and the Sassafras (1731). Courtesy of The Royal Society, RS10495.

Eastern Meadowlark. Mark Catesby, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands (Boston, 1754). Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 400675.

Eastern Whip-poor-will. John James Audubon, The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories (New York and Philadelphia, 1840), Vol. 1. Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 108299.

Golden-crowned Kinglet. John James Audubon, The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories (New York and Philadelphia, 1841), Vol. 2. Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 108390.

Northern Flicker. Mark Catesby, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands (Boston, 1754). Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 400660.

Northern Mockingbird. Mark Catesby, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands (Boston, 1754). Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 400669.

Passenger Pigeon. Mark Catesby, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands (Boston, 1754). Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 400665.

Purple Finch. Mark Catesby, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands (Boston, 1754). Audubon, 1840 Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 400683.

Purple Martin. John James Audubon, The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories (New York and Philadelphia, 1840), Vol. 1. Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 108302.

Wood Thrush. John James Audubon, The Birds of America: From Drawings Made in the United States and Their Territories (New York and Philadelphia, 1841), Vol. 3. Courtesy of the New York Public Library, 108403.