Thomas Peter Bennett

JOHN AUDUBON EXPLORES FLORIDA

POEMS

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

After the publication of the first volume of The Birds of America and its heralded reception in Philadelphia, John Audubon and his two assistants departed in late September 1831 to the new Florida territory to pursue, collect and draw Florida waterbirds and regional exotics for Audubon's Great Work. Enroute, they established a "base camp" In Charleston with John Bachman a resident. Audubon learned of his election to the Academy of Natural Sciences and began his correspondence and writing about his daily exploration adventures. Using government ships and accomodations, they sailed for St. Augustine: explored and collected bird specimens in North Florida, and Audubon drew birds for his Great Work. Next, they sailed for Key West, stopping for collecting at Keys along the way. They spent time in Key West with great success and in late May 1832 the Audubon party returned to Charleston and Philadelphia. Audubon continued his journals and incorporated his drawings, paintings into his "great work," The Birds of America. ¿¿After the publication of the first volume of The Birds of America and its heralded reception in Philadelphia and London, Audubon departed from England in July 1831 for his next adventure: to pursue Florida waterbirds and other regional exotics. Accompanying him on the ship were his wife Lucy and Henry Ward, a young English taxidermist whom Audubon had engaged to assist in collecting and preserving specimens during the Florida expedition. Their first destination was Philadelphia, where Audubon hired George Lehman, a Swiss landscape painter, to accompany him and Ward in Florida. Mrs. Audubon departed for Louisville. Audubon also arranged with G.W. Featherstonehaugh, the editor of The Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural Science, to publish reports of their Florida journey.In late September 1821, Audubon and his two assistants traveled to Washington. Here, the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Treasury approved the party's travel out of Charleston on a government revenue cutter to the Floridian coastal outposts between St. Augustine and Key West. The party left Washington and traveled by various modes of transport until, in Audubon's words, they "at length approached Charleston . . . with unfeigned delight."Audubon's expedition was intended to last from late November 1831 to the end of May 1832. It included the north Florida area, which had been explored by William Bartram in his Travels, and it would continue along the Atlantic coast to Key West. However, circumstances changed, and Audubon's party first explored slightly southward near St. Augustine, then around the St. Johns River, from November 20, 1831, until March 5, 1832. They returned to Charleston and spent a month with Bachman, then traveled directly to the Florida Keys, where they explored from April 15 through May 31, 1832.For Audubon, as reflected in his letters and journal entries, the north Florida exploration was less productive and less enjoyable than their exploration of the Florida Keys. Both areas prompted his many paintings, writings, and letters about Florida's birds and natural history. These inspired and informed John Audubon Explores Florida: Poems.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Goose River Press
• Seitenzahl: 56
• Erscheinungstermin: 2. Oktober 2023
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 216mm x 140mm x 5mm
• Gewicht: 118g
• ISBN-13: 9781597132688
• ISBN-10: 1597132683
• Artikelnr.: 68913757

Autorenporträt

Thomas Peter Bennett is a Florida native on perpetual sabbatical as an independent scholar and poet. A former professor and natural history museum executive, he has published scientific articles and books, as well as poems and collections on topics featured in Florida Sketches: William Baldwin Follows Bartram's Tracks. This book is largely drawn from his research and field explorations along the Bartram Trail in Florida. A graduate of Florida State University (FSU), Bennett earned his PhD in biochemistry from the Rockefeller University and became an assistant professor at Harvard University. He later returned to FSU as a professor and the chair of biological sciences, afterwards serving as the special assistant to the president and acting executive vice president. His museum work began with his appointment as the president of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, now the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. After a decade at the Academy, he returned to Florida as a dean, professor, and the director of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. Ten years later he became the executive director of the South Florida Museum and retired as an emeritus executive director. While teaching at FSU, Bennett started publishing poetry, attended workshops with Michael Bugeja and others, and studied with Mary Oliver at Bennington College. Bennett's recent poems-inspired by the natural wonders in Florida and Maine-have appeared in, Red Owl, Chebacco, POETALK, The Café Review, Puckerbrush Review, Pegasus Review, and Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, among others, and in various anthologies, such as Goose River Anthology, Cosmos Club Poets Through the Years, and Bay Area Poets Coalition. He is the author of several poetry chapbooks and five poetry books, including Nature, As One Sees It (2003), A Celebration of John and William Bartram: In Philadelphia and Florida (2005), Hike On (2008), and Encore Seasons (2017). In addition to his poetry and scientific works, Bennett has several historical scientific books to his credit: The Legacy: South Florida Museum (2010), The Le Contes: Scientific Family of Woodmanston (2014), and Florida Explored: The Philadelphia Connection in Bartram's Tracks (2019). He is a member of The Explorers Club and the Cosmos Club.