author
E. P. (Edward Payson) Evans
1831–1917
A wide-ranging nineteenth-century scholar, he moved easily between languages, literature, ethics, and cultural history. He is especially remembered today for a remarkably early and serious defense of animals in human thought and law.
1 Audiobook
The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals
by E. P. (Edward Payson) Evans
About the author
Born in New York in 1831, Edward Payson Evans was an American scholar, linguist, and educator whose work ranged across philology, literary history, and moral philosophy. He studied at the University of Michigan, taught modern languages in the United States, and later spent many years in Germany, where he continued his research and writing.
Evans wrote on German literature, medieval and early modern culture, and the relationship between humans and animals. He is best known for The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals (1906), a curious and still widely discussed study of historical animal trials that also reflects his unusually sympathetic view of animal life.
His books have endured because they combine deep learning with an interest in unusual corners of history. For listeners coming to him now, Evans stands out as a serious scholar with a humane streak and a gift for turning eccentric historical material into something memorable.