In 1773, naturalist and writer William Bartram set out from Philadelphia on a four-year journey ranging from the Carolinas to Florida and Mississippi. Combining precise and detailed scientific observations with a profound appreciation of nature, he produced a written account of his journey that would later influence both scientists and poets. 31 photos. 12 illustrations. 4 maps.

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.