Customer Reviews

The Collector: David Douglas and the Natural History of the Northwest

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A fine read for anyone interested in Pacific Northwest botany, fur trade history, and/or -ethnography. Plant life appears as if on a spring walk in the countryside, along with fun and fascinating related information. Hudson Bay and other historical personages delight at the turn of a page or the floating a river -- folks like John Work, Jaco Finlay, Samuel Black, Donald McKenzie, Edward Ermatinger --all observed by David Douglas in their natural habitats as well. Forts Vancouver, Okanogan, Colville, Spokane House, and several others make their appearance, connected by exciting travel on the rivers of the Northwest. The ethnographer will enjoy as well the many bits of Indian culture sprinkled throughout the book. All of these delicious details are wrapped in the passion of Douglas' life wandering far-flung landscapes in search of botanical discoveries.

The author makes extensive use of supporting documents, especially Douglas' own journals. These journals impart to the book a steady pace, which sometimes begs for a bit of literary disruption. But again, a fine read, well researched and well written, and a welcome addition to any bookshelf.

Excellent book for the naturalist. Tons of names in horticulture we use today of people who were alive back in David Douglas day. Fast easy read with poetic descriptions of the Pacific Northwest.

By way of introduction, I've read most of the biographical material on Douglas as well as his writings. There have been six biographies written about him, and this is the best of the bunch. Here they are:

The first was by his friend and mentor, William Jackson Hooker, and was published soon after Douglas' untimely death under the title "A Brief Memoir of the Life of Mr. David Douglas, with Extracts from His Letters." This work is available free on the internet and I highly recommend it. It's brief, sympathetic, and hits the high points.

Perhaps because Douglas' journals went unpublished until 1914, and then were put out only in an expensive limited edition, he did not attract another biographer until 1947 when H.T. Hervey published "Douglas of the fir: a biography of David Douglas, botanist." This was an excellent work, and the later biographies repeat much material first presented by Hervey. It is long out of print and you will likely have to get it through a library.

The third Douglas biography is more of a curiosity than a work of reference; it contains much wild speculation that is unsupported or actually contradicted by the historical evidence, and overall seems to be an effort to turn Douglas' life into a pulp romance. Among other things it reveals that Douglas had a passionate affair with a dusky native lass on the shores of distant Gray's Harbor. You can read this and more in W. Morwood's Traveler in a vanished landscape;: The life and times of David Douglas.

Next up was DOUGLAS OF THE FORESTS. THE NORTH AMERICAN JOURNALS OF DAVID DOUGLAS by John Davies, which mostly consists of excerpts from Douglas' journals but also covers some biographical ground. It's a decent work, but mostly of interest because Douglas' own journals have only been published in rare and expensive limited editions (fortunately they can also be downloaded for free on the Internet).

After that we had David Douglas: Explorer and Botanist by Ann Lindsay, reissued a few years later under the title The Tree Collector: The Life and Explorations of David Douglas. Regrettably, it was not well fact-checked, and contains numerous false statements that betray the authors' general lack of familiarity with either botany or the geography of western North America, but which also contains some interesting facts which were not earlier published, and are revealed in the writings of Douglas' contemporaries.

The best came last, though: Jack Nisbet's "The Collector" easily displaces Hervey's work as the best Douglas biography, for it was prepared by a modern, rigorous historian with access to a breadth of material and interpretation that the earlier authors could not reach. Moreover, Nisbet has previously written a good number of books on the region's history and, apart from the synergistic effects on this research effort, it has allowed him to develop as a capable and engaging writer. It contains information not discovered by any prior writer, such as the news that Douglas had a son during his travels in the Pacific Northwest; it also does a far better job than any prior biography of placing Douglas within the society of his contemporaries both on the frontier and in the world of London's Linnean Society. Highly recommended.

THE COLLECTOR: DAVID DOUGLAS AND THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST surveys David Douglas's discoveries of hundreds of western plants and tells how the son of a stonemason who lived in a rural Scottish village became the premier botanical explorer of the Pacific Northwest. His early fascination with nature and botany and the moves that would led him to become a leading authority make for fascinating reading especially recommended for any natural history collection.

An excellent book for those interested in the flora and fauna of the northwest. Informative regarding the topography as well. Interesting reading. I hated to put it down to do other things.

"All will be reconciled, and we shall see no longer as 'through a glass, darkly,' the infinitude, the beauty, the harmony of nature. I must return to the volcano, if it is only to look-to look and admire".

These words came from David Douglas's writings towards the end of his short life and contrast to the head-strong plant collector, who on his first journey to the Northwest, would occasionally let his desire for fame contaminate his boyish zeal for the natural world. Jack Nisbet's biography uses Douglas's journals as well as very extensive research of all available material on Douglas and related history to not only tell his story but let us inside the man.

David Douglas's first journey to the Northwest occupies the first half of the book and I was amazed at the insight and look into the very heart of the man we get. Less than two decades after Lewis and Clark, Douglas goes to the same region and explores thoroughly throughout what is now Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and BC. When it came to the second half I was afraid that beautiful narrative and insight would be lost on learning that Douglas's journals were lost in a canoe accident on the Frazier River late in the journey. But Nisbet picks and prods the available literature, uses the context of Douglas's first journey, and delivers us a compelling story on his second journey to the Northwest, California, and Hawaii.

I was struck by David Douglas's passion for the out of doors; his love of plants, geology, and everything natural. There is something very modern about this man, something two centuries before his time. In the end, though, the most compelling thing is the depth of the man whose name is on the Douglas fir. While other Northwest names like Rainier, Puget, or Baker warrant little more than footnotes in the annals of history, Douglas is a name with depth, passion, and story. David Douglas definitely deserves this book and I enjoyed it immensely. The Collector inspired me, and more than once I wished there was another continent, virtually unexplored, and available for me to go collect plants on. But there is not.

I saw this book on my library's new arrivals shelf by the checkout desk and grabbed it on a whim, figuring I'd probably just flip through it. How wrong I was! It was quite engaging. Amazing all the ordeals he went through and the various personalities that played off of each other, all in the name of plants and science and discovery. Early on you learn that he didn't live to be an old man but you're not certain how old he was when he died (as long as you don't spoil the story by looking the info up) so part of what kept me reading was wanting to find out HOW that happened. Maybe that's morbid, but it made it feel like a good mystery.

Having an interest in plants and nature and science and geography helps make this a more compelling read, but Jack Nisbet is a great storyteller aside from the content. I guess he is renowned for it but this was the first book of his I've read. I'll definitely seek out others. He did a fine job of telling a simple story from journals and research in a gripping and entertaining way. The illustrated maps were a great addition as well.

Bought this book for my Dad because he is a history buff. It is a great book about the life of David Douglas.

I purchased this book for my husband and he enjoyed it very much. I do intend to read it later....

I fail to see how anyone could make David Douglas's explorations, which ought to be an interesting subject, so DEADLY DULL!