1 
LIFE OF 
ability for the superintendance of such varied subjects. “ This 
engagement will, I hope, enable me, in more ways than one, to 
proceed with my intended Ornithology, to which all my leisure 
moments will be devoted. In the mean time, I anticipate with 
diffidence the laborious and very responsible situation I am soon to 
be placed in, requiring a much more general fund of scientific 
knowledge, and stronger powers of mind, than I am possessed of ; 
but all these objections have been overruled, and I am engaged.’' 
He soon unfolded his darling project to Mr Bradford, who thought 
so favourably of the undertaking, and of Wilson’s abilities, that he 
agreed to become the publisher, and to furnish the requisite funds. 
Now that all obstruction was removed, Wilson lanched into the 
enterprize with his whole energies, devoting to it every moment 
that he could spare from his duties as editor. Mr Lawson was set 
to work ; his prospectus was composed, and twenty-five hundred 
copies were to be thrown off ; it was to be printed in all the news- 
papers ; he already meditated the appointment of an agent “ in 
every town of the Union.” This hard study, however, again 
impaired his health, and he was forced sometimes to relax by an 
excursion to the country, which gave him a double portion of 
enjoyment, from being mostly in constant confinement, “ im- 
mersed among musty books, and compelled to forego the harmony 
of the woods for the everlasting din of the city, the very face of 
the blessed heavens involved in soot, and interrupted by walls and 
chimney tops.”* 
“ At length,” writes Mr Ord, “ in the month of September, 
1808 , the first volume of the American Ornithology made its 
appearance. From the date of the arrangement with the pub- 
lisher, a prospectus had been issued, wherein the nature and 
intended execution of the work were specified. But yet no one 
appeared to entertain an adequate idea of the treat which was 
about to be afforded to the lovers of the fine arts and of elegant 
literature; and when the superb volume was presented to the 
public, their delight was equalled only by their astonishment that 
America, as yet in its infancy, should produce an original work in 
science, which could vie in its essentials with the proudest pro- 
ductions of a similar nature of the European world.” 
* Letter' to Mr Bur tram. 
