Sightseers and Scholars: Scientific Travellers in the Golden Age of Natural History by Bown, Stephen R - 2002

Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Key Porter Books, 2002 Book. As New. Hardcover. 1st Edition. 9 1/2 h x 7w. A real nice clean unmarked 256 page first edition hardcover with "1" present in number line. Has profiles nine important naturalists-both dedicated professionals and amateurs-who set off for what is now North and South America to discover and document the natural wonders they found there. Their stories of adventure are punctuated with hardship, both in finding the financing to get their ventures off the ground, and the vagaries of the elements once they reached the New World, be it North or South America. Despite the odds, these explorers, either traveling with artists or as artists themselves, chronicled their adventures in both words and pictures, providing a unique portrait of the natural world in North, South and Central America before it became widely settled. Many of the species observed or discovered still bear the names of the explorers who discovered them.