200 



Recent Literature. L April 



supplemented (pp. 39-4S) by extracts and much other information derived 

 from some of his early journals, only two of which have escaped the 

 ravages of fire. * The following thirty pages conclude this fascinating 

 and all too briefly-told history of a career unusually varied and pictur- 

 esque. This brevity is in large measure, however, compensated by the 

 'Journals' that compose the chief part of these two large volumes, 

 through which Audubon's charming personal character is revealed in all 

 its simplicity and loveliness. His many struggles with adverse condi- 

 tions, his mercurial temperament and versatility, his womanly tender- 

 ness and kind regai-d for others, as well as his intense love of nature, 

 stand forth prominently in the almost daily entries of passing events. 

 The 'Journals,' besides giving an insight into the motives and character 

 of the man, possess the charm of personal reminiscence and great historic 

 interest, whether they relate to his sojourn in Edinburgh, London, and 

 Paris, or to his various expeditions into then almost unexplored parts of 

 this continent. The European Journals (I, pp. 79-342) cover the critical 

 period (1826-29) of Audubon's visit to Edinburgh and London in search of 

 subscribers to and a publisher for 'The Birds of America,' and introduce 

 to t*he reader persons then prominent, not only in literatui-e and art, but 

 as naturalists and natural history publishers. Audubon was received 

 everywhere with great cordiality, and formed manv life-long friendships. 

 The names of Lord Stanley (later Earl of Derby), the Rathbones, Traill, 

 Roscoe, Jameson, Bewick, Children, Selby, Vigors, Sabine, Swainson, 

 Nuttall, and others in England, and Cuvier in France, have either been 

 given by Audubon to American birds, or are otherwise associated with 

 their literary history. The Rathbones Avere his especial friends and 

 greatly aided him in his canvass for subscribers and in securing the pub- 

 lication of his work. This portion of the 'Journals ' abounds especially 

 in passages it is hard to refrain from quoting, either from their revealing 

 characteristic traits of Audubon himself, or as giving glimpses of many 

 naturalists prominent in England during the first half of the present 

 century. 



The following brief extracts will serve to illustrate the cordiality of his 

 reception and the general character of his Journals. He thus relates for 

 example, his first meeting with Lord Stanlej' : "In the afternoon I drove 

 with Mr. Hodgson to his cottage, and while chatting with his amiable 

 wife the door opened to admit Lord Stanley. I have not the least doubt 

 that if m}' head had been looked at, it would have been thought to be 

 the body, globularly closed, of one of our largest porcupines; all my hair 

 — and I have enough — stood straight on end, I am sure. He is tall, 

 well formed, made for activity, simply but well dressed; he came to me 

 at once, bowing to Mrs. Hodgson as he did so, and taking my hand in 

 his, he said : ' Sir, I am glad to see you.' Not the words onlj-, but his 



' Destroyed in the ' Great Fire ' that devastated New York city in 1835. 



