THE OSPREY. 



107 



THE OSPREY. 



An Illustrated Magazine of Popular Ornithology. 



Published Monthly, 

 By 

 THE OSPREY COMPANY 



Edited by Theodore Gill and Paul Bartsch, in collabo- 

 ration with Robert ttidgw&y, LeonrjardStejneger Fredei ic 

 A. Lucas. Charles w Richmond. William Palmer and 

 Harry C. Oberholser of Washington, and Witmer Stone of 



Philadelphia- 



Contributions of a relevant Dature are respectfully soli- 

 cited, and should be addressed to The Ospkey Company 

 3il-3-234K Street N. W-, Washington, 1). C. 



Subscription : In the United States. Canada and Mexico, 

 One Dollar a year, in advance. Single Copies. Ten Cents, 



Foreign Subscription : ( iue DollarandTwent y-five Cents, 

 Postage paid to all countries in the Postal Union. 

 Advertising rates sent on request. 



Entered as second-class matter, by The Ospkkt Com- 

 pany at the Washington. ]>.('. Post Office. 



JULY. 1901. 



Comments. 



THE POPULARITY OF WHITE'S SKI.UOKNK. 



Not less than three editions of Gilbert White's 

 "Natural History and Antiquitiesof Selborne" 

 have been published within the past year 

 and over a hundred editions have been pas-e 1 

 through the various presses of Britain and 

 America since its first appearance little more 

 than a century ago. The first edition yvas issued 

 in 1788, and the work has increased in popularity 

 and circulation to the present time. The recent 

 editions range from a cheap small single vol- 

 ume sold for a shilling and sixpence by J. M. 

 Dent & Co., to the luxurious one in two volumes 

 edited by the famous ornithologist, Dr. R. 

 Bowdler Sharpe, and published by S. T. Free- 

 mantle at the price of three pounds sterling. 



What is the reason for the continued esteem 

 which a work on Natural History published so 

 long ago still evokes? White, it is to be remem- 

 bered, was a contemporary of Liunaus and pur- 

 sued his studies so early that he followed the 

 nomenclature of Ray rather than that of Lin- 

 naeus. His correspondence with Pennant com- 



menced in 17dN, and that with Barrington in 

 1769, and dragged through the period of our Re- 

 volutionary War. The works of his contempo- 

 raries have long since been left untouched on 

 the shelves of libraries or are only referred to 

 by experts in order to settle some mooted point 

 of nomenclature. Probably if Pennant had been 

 told that the letters of hi* deferential corres- 

 pondent would be read with increasing- interest 

 while his own great works would exist only in 

 the memory of bibliophiles and repose untouch- 

 ed on dusty shelves, he would have smiled in 

 derision. White was a man of sense, and he 

 himself had no dream of lasting fame. His 

 letters were not sent to the press until many 

 years after most of them were written, and he 

 expressed his own want of confidence in their 

 reception by the public in lines penned when the 

 collection had been for some time issued. 



The cause of popularity is not splendor of 

 style such as appealed to the sentiment of the 

 French in the case of White's distinguished con- 

 temporary. Buffon, for the letters of the English 

 clergyman are rather characterized by simplic- 

 ity of style. That very simplicity, in fact, is 

 one of the attractive features in White's work. 

 The manner is as natural as might be manifest 

 in the correspondence of intimate friends; it 

 does not divert attention from the subject mat- 

 ter. But certain requisites are necessary for 

 one to appreciate and enjoy White's book. 

 First, there must be an innate love of nature. 

 Next, the reader must have a considerable ac- 

 quaintance with country life and have a store 

 of pleasing reminiscenses of rural scenes which 

 are revived or suggested by the perusal of the 

 work. Finally, to fully enjoy it. he must have 

 imagination which can vivify the episodes 

 and circumstances told of in the letters. With 

 these qualifications, one can scarcely fail to 

 become interested in the work for its own sake. 

 But another element has come into play to en- 

 sure the printing of so many editions; it is the 

 tendency to adopt a "fad." White has become 

 a fashionable author; he has been placed among 

 the first hundred or fifty writers who must be 

 represented in everyone's library at the risk of 

 the defaulter being denied taste or knowledge. 

 Passion for collecting many editions has become 

 developed; therefore are many editions pub- 

 lished. Doubtless, many more will be published 

 as time rolls on although it is not easy tn 

 see what want remains unfilled, unless it may 

 be an edition especially adapted for the use of 

 Americans, 



