E-Book Overview
Susan Fenimore Cooper (1813-1894), though often overshadowed by her celebrity father, James Fenimore Cooper, has recently become recognized as both a pioneer of American nature writing and an early advocate for ecological sustainability. Editors Rochelle Johnson and Daniel Patterson have assembled here a collection of ten pieces by Cooper that represent her most accomplished nature writing and the fullest articulation of her environmental principles. With one exception, these essays have not been available in print since their original appearance in Cooper's lifetime.A portrait of her thoughts on nature and how we should live and think in relation to it, this collection both contextualizes Cooper's magnum opus, Rural Hours (1850), and demonstrates how she perceived her work as a nature writer. Frequently her essays are models of how to catch and keep the interest of a reader when writing about plants, animals, and our relationship to the physical environment. By lamenting the decline of bird populations, original forests, and overall biodiversity, she champions preservation and invokes a collective environmental conscience that would not begin to awaken until the end of her life and century.The selections include independent essays, miscellaneous introductions and prefaces, and the first three installments from Cooper's work of literary ornithology, "Otsego Leaves," arguably her most mature and fully realized contribution to American environmental writing. In addition to a foreword by John Elder, one of the nation's leading environmental educators, an introduction analyzes each essay in various cultural contexts. Brief but handy textual notes supplement the essays. Perfect for nature-writing aficionados, environmental historians, and environmental activists, this collection will radically expand Cooper's importance to the history of American environmental thought.
E-Book Content
Es s a y so nNa t u r e a ndLa nd s c a p e S u s a nF e ni mo r eCo o p e r Ed i t e db yRo c h e l l eJ o h ns o na ndDa ni e l P a t t e r s o n F o r e wo r db yJ o h nEl d e r Essays on Nature and Landscape this page intentionally left blank S F C Essays on Nature and Landscape Edited by R J and D P Foreword by John Elder T U G P Athens and London © by the University of Georgia Press Athens, Georgia All rights reserved Designed by Angie Sanders Set in Fournier by Bookcomp, Inc. Printed and bound by Thomson-Shore, Inc. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cooper, Susan Fenimore, – . Essays on nature and landscape / Susan Fenimore Cooper ; edited by Rochelle Johnson and Daniel Patterson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ). - - - (hardcover : alk. paper)— - - - (pbk. : alk. paper) . Natural history. . Country life. I. Johnson, Rochelle. II. Patterson, J. Daniel. III. Title. . —dc British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available Contents Foreword by John Elder Acknowledgments Introduction vii xi xiii Editorial Principles xxxiii A Dissolving View Introduction to John Leonard Knapp’s Country Rambles in England; or, Journal of a Naturalist Introduction to The Rhyme and Reason of Country Life: Or, Selections from Fields Old and New Preface to the edition of Rural Hours Later Hours