86 Recent Literature. 



LJan. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



Herrick's 'Audubon The Naturalist.' 1 — Most of us have come to 

 feel that we are so thoroughly conversant with the life of Audubon, many 

 of us having prepared brief biographical sketches or addresses in connection 

 with the numerous societies which bear his name, that we are apt to look 

 upon a " new life " of the naturalist as necessarily a work of supereroga- 

 tion — a redressing of a well worn theme. If anyone open Prof. Herrick's 

 volumes with such an idea in mind, he will very soon be disabused of it. 

 Almost from the first page we realize that here at last is the real life of 

 Audubon beside which all previous efforts fall into insignificance. 



Not only is there a vast amount of new data covering the blanks in the 

 accounts of former biographers, rounding out many incidents and correct- 

 ing many errors, but the whole treatment is that of the disinterested, 

 unprejudiced biographer and scholar. Previous sketches of the naturalist's 

 life when carefully analyzed are found to be largely based upon his own 

 brief autobiography, apparently written for his children, without reference 

 to documents and hence relying mainly upon memory, with inevitable 

 lapses and errors. Most of the estimates of his character and achieve- 

 ments too, are to a greater or less extent tinged with the spirit of hero 

 worship, that such a lovable, picturesque and magnetic man as Audubon 

 was bound to arouse even in those who knew him only through his writings 

 and paintings. Prof. Herrick on the contrary has, we think, maintained 

 an eminently just attitude throughout his work, as behooves the good 

 biographer; always thoroughly in sympathy with his subject, praising 

 his achievements, and yet frankly admitting his errors. The result is 

 that after reading these volumes we seem to know Audubon better than we 

 ever did before and to have a still better appreciation of him. 



When we realize what Prof. Herrick has accomplished in tracing out the 

 life of Jean Audubon, father of the ornithologist, and ascertaining the 

 date and place of birth of the latter as well as the identity of his mother, — 

 all of which were previously involved in obscurity, we wonder why no one 

 ever made the attempt to solve these problems before, and why we were 

 content to conclude that the last word had been said upon the life of this 

 remarkable man. . 



Prof. Herrick realizing the inadequacy of existing biographies and the 

 need of much additional original information systematically set about 

 searching for it, with the result that he finally discovered in France the 



1 Audubon, The Naturalist. A History of his Life and Time. By Francis Hobart 

 Herrick, Ph. D., Sc. D., Professor of Biology in Western Reserve University; Author of 

 "The Home Life of Wild Birds," etc. In two volumes. Illustrated. D. Appleton and 

 Company. New York and London, 1917. Svo. Vol. I, pp. i xl and 1 — 151 . Vol. II, 

 i-xiii and 1-494. Price, $7.50 net. 



