° ' 1918 J Recent Literature. 87 



greater part of the manuscripts, letters etc., of Jean Audubon, still in the 

 possession of the family which had inherited his widow's estate. With 

 this material it was possible to clear up all the doubts regarding the birth 

 of the ornithologist and to sketch in detail the life of his father. We now 

 learn that Audubon was born on April 26, 1785, not May 5, 1780, as is usually 

 stated; and that the place of his birth was Les Cayes on the southern coast 

 of Haiti not in Louisiana, while his mother proves to be a French Creole, 

 one Mile. Rabin. 



Continuing his researches Prof. Herrick brought to light many unpub- 

 lished letters and documents in the possession of the descendants of Rozier, 

 Audubon's business partner during his early life at Mill Grove and in Ken- 

 tucky. These shed much interesting light upon this period of the natura- 

 list's history. The well known collections of Auduboniana belonging to 

 Mr. Joseph Y. Jeanes, of Philadelphia, Mr. Ruthven Deane, of Chicago, 

 Col. John E. Thayer of Lancaster, Mass., and Harvard University, were 

 carefully studied and all printed matter relating to Audubon has been 

 consulted. 



With the results of his researches extending over ten years, thoroughly 

 digested, Prof. Herrick has written his notable biography, — or better, 

 history, for it is far more than a biography, following out as it does so 

 many side lines in chapters replete with interesting historical information 

 relating to many persons, places and events only incidental to the 

 main theme. The work abounds in detailed information, with foot- 

 notes full of references and exact quotations, and an abundance of illus- 

 trations — photographic reproductions of historical documents and early 

 sketches, portraits of Audubon and of various persons mentioned in the 

 text, as well as views of buildings and places associated with the life of the 

 ornithologist. There are also several reproductions in colors of some of 

 the plates of the ' Birds of America.' A series of appendices contain copies 

 of original documents of all sorts; a list of original drawings by Audubon 

 which are still extant; a list of the subscribers to the ' Birds of America'; 

 a list of the authentic likenesses of the ornithologist and a bibliography oi 

 two hundred and thirty-four titles of which Audubon's own contributions 

 are seen to number but thirty-seven all told. 



This brief resum6 will give some idea of the scientific and historical value 

 of the book. But it has other merits as well. Prof. Herrick has the happy 

 faculty of writing history and biography in a manner that is not only 

 eminently scholarly but exceedingly interesting and as a result we have 

 in these two volumes a delightfully entertaining piece of literature, which 

 will appeal to many who may care little for Audubon as an ornithologist. 



It would be manifestly impossible in the short space of a review to call 

 attention to all the original matter presented by Prof. Herrick and everyone 

 interested in Audubon must read the volumes for himself. Mention may 

 however be made of certain chapters, dealing with the character of the man, 

 which has always been a matter of foremost interest. 



In that dealing with Audubon's ' Episodes of Western Life,' Prof. Her- 



