Auction to Offer Works by Roger Tory Peterson

By PATRICIA COHEN

There are probably few bird-watchers or hikers who have not heard of Roger Tory Peterson, the author of the acclaimed pocket-size series of field guides to birds, insects, rocks, wildflowers and more. Probably the best-known ornithologist of the last century, Mr. Peterson, who died in 1996, considered himself a painter first, a writer second, and third, a naturalist.

Now hundreds of pieces of his original artwork and photographs are being offered for auction on Sept. 8 at the Arader Gallery in New York. Called the “Audubon of the 20th century” by S. Dillon Ripley, the former head of the Smithsonian Institution, Mr. Peterson essentially invented the modern field guide, and then sold millions of them.  His precise and richly colored illustrations made it easy for amateurs to identify individual birds by emphasizing the shapes of beaks, wings and feathers.  Online bidders will also be able to take part in the auction, wh ich is being conducted by Guernsey's.