Travels of William Bartram

Bartram, William

ISBN 10: 1616402695 / ISBN 13: 9781616402693

Edité par Cosimo Classics, 2010

A propos de cet article

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Travels of William Bartram
• Éditeur: Cosimo Classics
• Date de parution: 2010
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 1616402695
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9781616402693
• Reliure: hardcover
• État de l'article: Very Good

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

In its time, it was considered the most significant work of American natural history. Coleridge, Emerson, and Wordsworth were fans, and drew from it for their own work. It is, in short, one of the most important volumes of 18th-century nature and travel writing. American botanist and naturalist WILLIAM BARTRAM (1739-1823) embarked upon a solitary four-year journey, just prior to the American Revolution, through what is now the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, through Cherokee and Creek country, through confrontations with bears and crocodiles, through country rough and beautiful. In the classic work first published in 1791, he tells with wondrous poetry and delicate insight the story of his travels and of the people, plants, and animals he encountered. This replica of the 1928 edition edited by Pulitzer Prize winner MARK VAN DOREN (1894-1972) is complete with the original maps, diagrams, and botanical and ethnographical illustrations. A beautiful work of history and literature, it belongs in the library of anyone interested in pre-Revolutionary America and its natural environs.

Présentation de l'éditeur

This book contains all of Bartram's journeys around North America in the late 18th century, through much of what was then Native American territory.

In the 1790s when this book was first published, the United States was newly formed and was expanding beyond its original thirteen colonies. However, American settlement into the distant lands beyond the Appalachians was limited and gradual. The vast expanse of land was unknown, and much was inhabited by Native American tribes.

Determined to traverse and discover the lands of North America, William Bartram set out from the city of Philadelphia, making his way toward the south of the continent. Along his way he describes the wilderness terrain, rivers, landscape and peoples he meets. Many of the Native American tribes he encountered were welcoming, viewing Bartram as a strange curiosity. He would join the natives to eat at feasts, observing their lives and customs, learning their dialects and eventually gaining their trust and friendship.

Several passages of this book are focused upon the unique plant and animal life which Bartram observed on his journeys. Unusual and dangerous occurrences, such as an alligator attacking his camp at night, are also related to the reader. Frequently, Bartram compares the beautiful landscapes of the Appalachians, Florida and the westerly plains to places of Greek mythology such as the Elysian fields.

A classic travelogue of substantial historical value, The Travels of William Bartram is an illustrative history of both the Native American tribes of southern North America, and the virgin landscapes of the continent.