the: making of an AMERICAN 6^ 



good friends. William Bartram, whose Botanic 

 Gardens and wide acquaintance among scientific 

 men had meant so much to Wilson, had directed his 

 attention to ornithology, and taught him all he knew 

 himself; Alexander Lawson, the engineer and en- 

 graver, interested him in drawing and etching, and 

 later engraved his plates for him at a nominal cost 

 ''for the sake of old Scotland," and now his good 

 genius brought him to the attention of Mr. S. F. 

 Bradford, a publisher and bookseller of the firm of 

 Bradford and Inskeep, of Third street, Philadelphia. 

 Bradford was about to bring out an edition of Ree's 

 New Cyclopedia in twenty-two quarto volumes, 

 and Wilson was employed at a salary of nine hun- 

 dred dollars per year as assistant editor. 



On the 1st of April, 1806, after nearly ten trouble- 

 some years of teaching, he resigned the school at 

 Gray's Ferry and moved into Philadelphia, where 

 he applied himself with the closest attention to his 

 editorial duties and to preparing himself to under- 

 take the writing of his ornithology. Very soon 

 after his connection with Bradford and Inskeep 

 began, he unfolded to Mr. Bradford his scheme 

 for the publication of his proposed book and was 

 promised the publisher's support. From this mo- 

 ment to his last day he was ever busy on this proj- 

 ect so dear to his heart, now drawing with inde- 

 fatigable energy, now roaming with the pros- 

 pectus of the "Ornithology" through the country, 

 soliciting subscribers for a book that was to cost 

 one hundred and twenty dollars. 



From his earlest youth, Wilson had let no 

 opportunity for self-improvement slip from him; 



