FOREWORD 



By WILFRED MARK WEBB 



F.L.S., F.R.M.S., Secretary of the Selborne Society, Editor of Knowledge. 



GILBERT WHITE'S " Natural History of Selborne," in 

 spite of the pleasing writings of the many followers in 

 his footsteps, still stands alone. It is the only book on 

 Natural History pure and simple which has become 

 a classic ; it appeals to everyone ; it has gone through 

 more than one hundred and fifty editions in very much 

 less than that number of years ; it records many 

 discoveries ; and, as Gilbert White tells what he has 

 himself noticed, there are, even at this later period, 

 very few mistakes to be corrected. 



For a long time Mr. Marcus Woodward has felt that 

 Gilbert White's words and the results of his work should 

 be made familiar to young people, and he has now put 

 together a book to which I am with pleasure writing 

 the present introduction. Mr. Woodward rightly 

 thinks that the reading of the " Natural History of 

 Selborne " as it stands is too much of an undertaking 

 for the ordinary juvenile. As, however, it was made 

 up of letters written to two correspondents and deals 

 with topics more or less as they presented themselves, 

 it lends itself very well to the process of making 

 extracts. 



Not only have those been skilfully chosen which 

 appeal to the youthful mind, but Mr. Woodward has 

 here and there explained the meaning of a word, as 

 well as written a number of chapters which they will 

 thoroughly enjoy. His whole aim has been to lead 

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