An
exhibition celebrating the work of British naturalist and writer
Gilbert White (1702-1793) was on view from February 4 through
April 8, 2001 in the Peterson Gallery, Cecil H. Green Library.
The exhibition, Cultural Landscapes: Gilbert White and The
Natural History of Selborne / The Bicentennial Exhibit Revisited,
showcased White's eminent book, one of the most published books
in the English language and regarded by many as an important
predecessor to the popular natural history book. The exhibition
also featured photographs, maps, and an eclectic mix of rare
published works on topics that relate to natural history, including
ornithology, botany, landscape, theology, and travel.
Originally
opening on October 15, 1989, to commemorate the bicentennial
of the book's publication, the exhibition was forced to close
two days later after the library suffered damages from the Loma
Prieta earthquake. With the current reprise, viewers will have
a second opportunity to enjoy White's oeuvre and the works of
his 17th and 18th century colleagues.
White's
book, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne,
was first published in London in 1789, and is one of the most
frequently reprinted books in the history of British publishing.
It is described in a 1988 edition edited by Richard Mabey as
a work that " . . . retains its power to delight the reader
with its account of daily life in a Hampshire village and the
plants and creatures in its neighbouring woods and fields. It
is an unequalled hymn of praise to the tiny and trifling details
of natural life, the 'minute particulars' of nature like the
singing of crickets, the subtleties of echoes, and the way flycatchers
cool their young in summer by fanning their wings above the
nest."Among
the exhibit's highlights were copies of the first, 1789 edition
of the work, along with copies of the various editions of the
book published after its debut-a testament to the book's continuing
value to naturalists, botanists, animal lovers, and other devotees
of nature. Other highlights of the exhibition included works
by Charles Darwin, Virginia Woolf, W. H. Auden, and Sir Isaac
Newton.
A
catalog/checklist of the exhibition, with accompanying essays
by W. B. Carnochan, Professor Emeritus at the English Department
of Stanford University, and Elizabeth Heckendorn Cook, is available
for purchase at the price of $5 plus tax and shipping. To obtain
copies, please visit the Special Collections publications
web site or contact Lisa Marie Hall at 650-725-1021 or via
email at speccollpubs@stanford.edu
