Description
Offered here is a matched pair of early Massachusetts Audubon Society teaching booklets by naturalist Ralph Hoffmann: Common Birds, First Series (to accompany Audubon Bird Chart No. 1) and Common Birds, Second Series (to accompany Audubon Bird Chart No. 2). These slim guides were designed for classroom use with the large Audubon wall charts and give short, readable field notes on dozens of New England / Eastern U.S. species-songbirds, swallows, warblers, woodpeckers, and more.
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Original Mass Audubon publications, circa 1920s (Second Series dated 1926 on title page)
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Authored by Ralph Hoffmann, an important early twentieth-century bird educator and field-guide writer
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Issued to accompany Audubon Bird Charts No. 1 and No. 2, used in schools to promote bird conservation
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Uncommon to find both First and Second Series together; ideal for Audubon, birding, or educational-ephemera collections
Both booklets are complete. The First Series copy is in solid reading/collectible condition with age toning and a light stain at the lower outer corner of the contents page (and possibly faintly onto a few following pages), plus a soft corner crease; text remains fully legible and the cover is securely attached. The Second Series copy shows heavier wear: age toning; a triangular stain at the lower outer corner of the title page and some following leaves; small nicks around the inner hinge; covers with a tiny pinhole at the top and a faint diagonal crease, and the cover is nearly detached/splitting along the spine and should be handled with care. Please view all the photos for the best sense of condition and detail.
Historically, these booklets represent the early educational work of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, when classroom materials like wall charts and simple identification guides were key tools in building public support for bird protection. As a surviving pair, they offer both content and context: the birds themselves, and the way they were taught to generations of students.
