author
Arthur de Carle Sowerby
1885–1954
Born in China and drawn to the wild landscapes of the north, he turned field expeditions into lively writing about animals, travel, and frontier life. His work sits at the meeting point of natural history, exploration, and publishing in early 20th-century China.
1 Audiobook
Sport and science on the Sino-Mongolian frontier
by Arthur de Carle Sowerby
About the author
Born in Taiyuan, Shanxi, on 8 July 1885, Arthur de Carle Sowerby grew up in China, where his father served as a Baptist missionary. He spent a short period studying in England, then returned to China and began collecting natural history specimens, building a career as a naturalist, explorer, writer, and editor.
Sowerby became known for expeditions across northern and western China, including work connected with the British Museum and the Smithsonian. He wrote books and articles on wildlife, hunting, travel, and frontier regions, and he also helped shape intellectual life in Shanghai through publishing, including work on The China Journal of Science and Arts.
His life and writing reflect a period when exploration, science, and travel literature often overlapped. He died on 16 August 1954, leaving behind a body of work valued both for its firsthand observations and for its picture of China during a time of major change.