Early American Nature Writers

At a time when the environment is of growing concern to students and general readers, nature writing is especially meaningful. This book profiles the literary careers of 52 early American nature writers, such as John James Audubon, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Caroline Stansbury Kirkland, Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, and Mabel Osgood Wright. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and discusses the writer's life and works. Entries close with primary and secondary bibliographies, and the encyclopedia ends with suggestions for further reading.

Global warming, pollution, and other issues have made the environment a topic of constant discussion these days. Many environmental concerns were treated by early American nature writers, who recognized the beauty of the natural world in an age of commercial expansion. Some of the most famous writers of the 18th and 19th centuries wrote about nature, and their works are stylistic masterpieces. At a time when students are being encouraged to read and write about nonfiction, these masterworks of early American nature writing are all the more important. This book gives students and general readers a welcome introduction to early American nature writers.

The volume begins with an introductory essay on the history of early American nature writing and its anticipation of present day concerns. The book then provides alphabetically arranged entries on 52 writers, including:

Elizabeth Agassiz, John James Audubon, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Caroline Stansbury Kirkland, Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, Edith M. Thomas, Henry David Thoreau, Bradford Torrey, and Mabel Osgood Wright.

Daniel Patterson is Associate Professor of English and Coordinator of Graduate Studies in English at Central Michigan University. His previous books include Reading the Earth: New Directions in the Study of Literature and Environment (1998), Susan Fenimore Cooper: New Essays on Rural Hours and Other Works (2001), an edition of Susan Fenimore Cooper's Rural Hours (1998), Essays on Nature and Landscape by Susan Fenimore Cooper (2002), and Edward Taylor's Gods Determinations and Preparatory Meditations: A Critical Edition (2003).