author
active 1630-1675 John Josselyn
An early English traveler to New England, he left behind some of the first lively written accounts of the region’s plants, animals, and daily life. His books blend sharp observation with the curiosity and wonder of a seventeenth-century visitor encountering a new world.
2 Audiobooks
New-England's rarities discovered : In birds, beasts, fishes, serpents, and plants of that country
by active 1630-1675 John Josselyn
An Account of Two Voyages to New-England, Made During the Years 1638, 1663
by active 1630-1675 John Josselyn
About the author
John Josselyn was a seventeenth-century English traveler and writer best known for two works about colonial New England: New-England's Rarities Discovered and An Account of Two Voyages to New-England. Very little is known about his private life, but his surviving books made him an important early observer of the natural world in North America.
He visited New England twice, first in 1638 and later during a longer stay beginning in 1663, spending time in the region of present-day Maine and Massachusetts. His writing records birds, fish, plants, weather, customs, and everyday experiences, mixing firsthand notes with stories he heard along the way.
Although some of his claims were credulous by modern standards, his books remain valuable for their rich descriptions of colonial New England’s flora and fauna. For listeners interested in early travel writing, natural history, and the first English impressions of New England, his work offers a vivid window into the seventeenth century.