
audiobook
by active 1630-1675 John Josselyn
This early treatise offers a vivid snapshot of New England’s wilderness as seen by a 17th‑century observer who travelled the region’s coastlines and forests. Filled with detailed sketches of birds, beasts, fishes, serpents and plants, it reads like a naturalist’s field notebook, capturing the wonder of creatures that were then considered exotic curiosities. The language retains its original spelling and punctuation, giving listeners a taste of the period’s scholarly voice.
An extensive introduction and scholarly notes accompany the original text, providing modern context for the observations and linking them to the author’s earlier voyages. These annotations clarify the historical setting, explain the author’s connections to prominent colonial families, and illuminate the early scientific methods used to catalog the New World’s bounty. Together they turn a simple catalogue into a rich, layered portrait of early colonial life and learning.
Listening to this work feels like stepping into a quiet study where the past speaks directly to the present, offering both factual detail and personal anecdotes. The blend of meticulous description and earnest curiosity makes it an engaging portal into the natural history of a region still largely untamed in the 1600s.
Language
en
Duration
~2 hours (126K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
United States: William Veazie, 1865.
Credits
Steve Mattern, John Campbell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
2023-02-23
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
A seventeenth-century English traveler, his lively books preserve some of the earliest detailed observations of colonial New England’s plants, animals, and daily life. Writing with curiosity and a taste for the unusual, he helped shape later readers’ picture of the region.
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