A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 26: Gilbert White, Naturalist Extraordinaire *

Abstract

Few British books have been as popular as Gilbert White's The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789, 1970). It has gone through over 200 editions and is translated into several languages (Martin 1934, Prance 1968). Although well written, style alone cannot make a naturalist extraordinaire. What else does it take? One historian of biology has attempted to explain this in a long, rambling, well-documented essay (Mullett 1969), but I think one can best reach this conclusion by reading White's writings. Therefore, I include generous quotations in this part of my ecological history to entice you to delve into any edition of Selborne for yourself. Of the book's nine illustrations, only two are on natural history: a drawing of three fossil shells labeled Mytilus, Crista Galli, and a fold-out drawing of a Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus), which was and is very rare in England and was shot at Frinsham Pond by the pond keeper. Many editions of Selborne lack both these illustrations. His Antiquities is really a separate work, and The Natural History is commonly reprinted without it. The work is organized into letters written, first, to Thomas Pennant, and second, to Daines Barrington. Since the various editions have different numbers of pages, in references it is helpful to cite the addressee's initials, TP and DB, with the letter number, which apply to all editions. Birds are comparatively easy to observe, and White's many bird observations attracted one ornithologist to edit an edition of Selborne, with notes that especially comment on them in his book (White 1947), and Paul Foster provides a well-informed more recent edition (White 1993).