Rambles with John Burroughs

De Loach, R. J. H. (Robert John Henderson), 1873-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 173K words
Chapters: 18

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Rambles with John Burroughs by R. J. H. De LoachAuthor: De Loach, R. J. H. (Robert John Henderson), 1873-,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Oct 20, 2011

Editor's review

This is a collection of essayistic writings centered on the American nature writer John Burroughs, in which the author, DeLoach, records his experiences of accompanying Burroughs on rambles and observing nature through informal conversation. Its value lies not in systematic biography or theoretical analysis but in a close-up, personally warm account: readers can sense the atmosphere of the early twentieth-century American nature-writing circle and catch sidelong glimpses of Burroughs the man and his writing in everyday intercourse. As a public-domain ebook from Project Gutenberg, the text is readily accessible and suits readers who love nature writing as extended reading. A caveat: the book consists mainly of rambling talk and reminiscence, loosely structured and low in information density, so it is better dipped into at leisure, following the author's footsteps into conversations between woodland and study, than approached as a rigorous critical biography.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in John Burroughs and American nature writing
Readers who enjoy informal essays and memoir-style portraits
Students seeking to broaden their background knowledge of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American literature

Not a good fit for

Researchers needing a systematic biography or scholarly critical biography
Readers who prefer tightly plotted, strongly structured texts

Reading tips

Learn about Burroughs's major nature-writing works first; the book is easier to enter with that context.
Read chapter by chapter and take notes, making an index of the places and works mentioned.
Read alongside Burroughs's own works to appreciate the difference between reminiscence and the writing itself.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a biography of John Burroughs?

Not in the strict sense. It is closer to informal reminiscence based on the author's acquaintance with Burroughs, focusing on personal observations and nature study. Loosely structured, it serves as supplementary reading for understanding Burroughs the man and his writing rather than as a systematic study of his life.

Do I need to read Burroughs's works before this book?

It is not strictly necessary, but reading one or two of Burroughs's nature essays first makes it easier to understand the people, places, and writing background mentioned here. If Burroughs is entirely new to you, you may also read this book first for its atmosphere and then go back to his original works.

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About the author

De Loach, R. J. H. (Robert John Henderson), 1873- Author · American · 1873

R. J. H. De Loach (Robert John Henderson De Loach, born 1873) was an American agricultural scientist and writer. He was born in 1873, and public information about the rest of his life is limited. One work by him is held in the collection, Rambles with John Burroughs. Judging from the title and the author's background, the book centres on the American nature writer John Burroughs and takes the form of informal rambles and observational notes, combining the field experience of an agricultural scientist with impressions gathered on country excursions. His writing draws on agriculture and rural life, in a plain style that values first-hand observation over abstract argument. Given the small number of works and the limited sources, he is at present known mainly as a chronicler associated with Burroughs, leaving a modest and readable record at the intersection of agricultural and nature writing.