Synopses & Reviews
PREFACE. The pioneer in American ornithology was Alexander Wilson, a Hcotch weaver and poet, who emigrated to this country in 1794, and began the publication of his great work upon our bir in 1808. He jigured and described three hundred and twenty species, Jfty-six of them new to sciace. His death occurred i r 1 . 813, before the publication of his work had been completed. But the chief of American ornithologists was John James Audubon. Audubon did not begin where Wilson left ofi He was also a pioneer, beginning his studies and drawings of the birds probably as early as Wilsola did his, but he planned larger and lived longer. He spent the greater part of his long life in the pursuit of ornithology, and was of a more versatile, jlexible, and artistic nature than was Wilson. He was collecting the material for his work at the same time thut Wilson was collecting his, but he did not begin the publication of it till d fourteen years after Wilson7s death. Both mm went directly to Nature and undenoent inkedible harhhips C exploring the woods and marshes in quest of their mterial. l Audubon7s rambles were much wider, and extended over a much longer period of time. WiEson, too, contentplated a work upon our quadrupeds, hut did not live to begin 9. Audubon was blessed with good hedth, length of years, a devotecl an self-smjicing wife, and a buoyant, sanguine, and elastic disposition. He had the heavenly gift of enthusiasm - a passionate love for the work he set out to do. He was a natural hunter, roamer, woodsman as unworldly as a child, and as abple and transparent. We have had better trained and more scientijic ornithologists since his day, but none with his abandon and poetic fervour in thestudy of our birds. Both n m were famous pedestrians and often walked hundreds of miles at a stretch. They were natural eqlorers and voyagers. They loved Nature at rst hand, and not merely as she appears in books andpictures. They both kept extensive journals of their wanderings and observations. 8everal of Audu60n7s recording his ropean experiences seem to have been lost or destroyed, but what remain make up the greater part of two large volumes recently edited by his grand-daughter, Maria R. Audubon. I h here to express my gratitude both to Miss Audubon, and to Messrs. Charles 8cribner7s Boons, for permitting me to draw freely from the ye and Journals just mentioned. The temptation is strong to let Audubon7s graphic and glowing descriptions of American scenery, and of his tireless wanderings, speak f or themselves. It is from these volumes, and from the life by h widow, published in 1868, that I have gathered the material for this brief biography. Audubon7 s life naturally divides itself into three periods his youth, which was on the whole a gay and happy one, and which lasted till the time of his marriage at the age of twenty-eight his business career which fozbwed lasting ten or more years, and consisting mainly C getting rid of the f ortune his father had left him and his career as an ornithologist which, though attended with great harcEships and privations, brought him much happiness and long before the end, substantial pecuniary rewards. His ornithological tastes and studies really formed the main current of his life from his teens onward...
Synopsis
This is American Naturalist John Burroughs' 1902 biography of John James Audubon. John James Audubon (1785 - 1851) was an American ornithologist, painter, and naturalist. He was a prolific writer on the subject of birds, and his book "The Birds of America" (1827) is commonly hailed as being among the finest ornithological works ever written. John Burroughs (1837 - 1921) was an American naturalist, essayist, and active member of the U.S. conservation movement. Burroughs' work was incredibly popular during his lifetime, and his legacy has lived on in the form of twelve U.S. Schools named after him, Burroughs Mountain, and the John Burroughs Association-which publicly recognizes well-written and illustrated natural history publications. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.