Customer Reviews

Travels of William Bartram

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in the nature, landscapes, Indians, and early settlements of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee around the year 1775. I haven't read this book in about 10 years, but I do remember checking it out of the library about 3 times, and I'm going to buy it for my birthday. The landscapes the Bartram describes will by and large never be seen again. Bartram described seeing a 45 square mile forest made up of nothing but magnolia, and dogwood trees. He saw forests that were covered by grapevines for miles. The trees were sometimes 20 feet thick, and the grapevines were so old that the vines were more than a foot thick. He saw canebrakes that covered miles, and some of the bamboo cane was 40 feet high. Canebrakes are practically extinct as an environment. He saw virgin forsts, abandoned Indian fields, overgrown Indian villages, open pine savannah forests, and uninhabited swamps. He saw wildlife which today would be scare, or extinct. He reported seeing a bobcat stalk a turkey. He pleaded with a market hunter not to kill a mother bear, and lamented the reaction of the bear cub to it's mother being killed. Bartram also reported seeing wolves, and bison skulls from recently killed buffulo. Bison were just rendered extinct in eastern Georgia at that time. Bartram took literary licence with some events. He exaggerated his encounters with alligators in Florida. After enjoying a meal of fish, rice, and oranges from the Spanish missionary orchards, he battled "fire breathing dragons." Bartram had many encounters with the Creeks, and Cherokees, and most were friendly. He feasted with Indian cattle raisers. Bartram also gives a good account of early settlements. If you decide to get this book, also get a copy of a tree guide with the scientific names, because Bartram tells exactly what kind of trees he came across in each forest. What I wouldn't give to see what Bartram saw?

The Travels of William Bartram, first published in 1791, was the first book to combine the natural sciences, travel and philosophy in a style that was not purely scientific. The Travels has it all-encounters with entrepid Seminoles, battles with alligators, observations on God's design for Nature and new plant discoveries. He influenced a generation of professional travelers, scientists and writers and was a mentor to some of America's greatest pioneer naturalists. The Naturalist's Edition of Bartram's Travels has been the bible for enthusiasts wishing to follow in the footsteps of the gentle Quaker botanist. This edition has been out of print for a number of years and has been increasingly hard to come by until now. Author Francis Harper was a well known biologist employed by the American Philosophical Society to retrace Bartram's travels in the late 1940's. His work is presented in the commentary section of the Naturalist's Edition and an index that catalogues and identifies the plants mentioned in the Travels. Harper's work has been the foundation for much of the modern effort to commemorate William Bartram's trail and lead to a revival of interest in Bartram's work in the 1970's.

"...So it is the varied and mutable scenes of human events on the stream of life.The high powers and affection of the soul are so blended and connected with the inferior passions, that the most painful feelings are excited in the mind when the latter are crossed,thus in the moral system,which we have planned for our conduct,as a ladder whereby to mount to the summit of terrestrial glory and happiness,and from whence we perhaps mediated our flight to heaven itself at the very moment when we vainly imagine ourselves to have obtained it's point,some unforseen accident intervenes,and suprises us;the chain is violently shaken,we quit our hold and fall:the well contrived system at once becomes a chaos;every
idea of happiness recedes;the splendor of glory darkens,and at length totally disappears;every pleasing object is defaced,all is deranged,and the flattering scene moves quietly away;,a gloomy cloud pervades the understanding,and when we see our progress retarded,and our best intentions frustrated,we are apt to deviate from the abmonitions and convictions of virtue,to shut our eyes upon our guide and protector,dought of his power,and despair of his assistance.But,let us wait and rely on our GOD,who in due time will shine forth in brightnes,dissipate the envious cloud,and reveal to us how finite and circumscribe in human power,when assuming to itself human wisdom..."

Excert from Dover Publications -copyright 1928 (Part 1,Ch.5 pgs.66-670

(born-April,9,1739,Kingsessing,Pa.-died July 22 1823,Kingsessing)

The son of John Bartram,considered the 'father of American botany',self-educated,and a friend of Benjamin Franklin and the botanist for the American colonies to GEORGE 111.William Bartram describes the abundant river swamps of the southeastern US in their primeval condition.An engaging read throughout.The writing is so graceful and genuine with that 'home spun'fragrance that usually are the attributes of a simple and gentle man doggedly pursuing the convictions of his heart.Judging from his writing it would of been a pleasure,permission granted, to have been his companion throughout his entire excursion through Florida,Georgia,and the Carolinas.This is an adventure full of suprises and gives one a sense of exploring the primordial landscapes of the souteastern United States 200 yrs ago.

visit the south back in time and really vizualize it. very indepth descriptions of the countryside and its inhabitants. be prepared to learn a good deal about this area that has been overlooked by many. a must read if you are enjoy the natural world.

This is the best reprint of "Travels" and includes informative commentary and a huge annotated index useful for additional research.

This book is a hard read. Bartram is a botinist not a writer. I got the book for its historical value. You will learn about the locals and their habbits. I live in Western North Carolina and found the information about the natives very interesting. His knowledge of the flora and fauna of the area is quite good.

William Bartram was a far better botanist than a writer. This book was a great achievement in that it was really the first work of American nature writing, and Bartram made a lot of great botanical discoveries during his journeys through the American Southeast. But his language is excruciatingly tedious. He uses ten pages to express what probably could be said in a single paragraph, and he often will offer two choices or options, when one would suffice: "We encamped on a high cliff or bluff..." And although he makes some interesting observations about the Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles, his views are often distressingly unenlightened or idealized. Although I love nature writing, and although I love the works of Thoreau, who came just a half-century later, I found Bartram's book painful to get through.

This book was really really borring