active 1630-1675 John Josselyn

John Josselyn was an English traveler and writer who is usually identified as active in the mid-seventeenth century. He is best known for accounts of his time in New England, especially New-Englands Rarities Discovered and An Account of Two Voyages to New-England, works that gathered observations on the natural world as well as colonial customs.

His writing is valued because it preserves early descriptions of New England flora and fauna and offers a vivid outsider’s view of life in the English colonies. Even when he repeated stories that now seem doubtful, his books remained important sources for later readers interested in the landscape, people, and atmosphere of early New England.

Reliable portrait evidence was not available from the sources I could confirm here, so no author image is included.