Gilbert White and the Natural History of Selborne

Abstract

IN MY strange and various reading, when I keep coming across a quotation, commentary, or allusion to a particular book, poem, play, biography, or whatnot, ultimately I am led or forced to look it up. If the book is off the beaten track or if it seems particularly enchanting, I keep an eye open for it in the innumerable book catalogues that by hook or crook come my way. Often I get the book. Two books, in particular, I had gone questing for. One was John Livingston Lowe's Road to Xanadu . Not only have I finally found a first edition of this book, but I have sent many paperback copies to friends. Another book that kept coming up in my far ranging reading was The Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White, or, given more properly and in extenso, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne in the county of