Letters from Alabama (U.S.)
Chiefly Relating to Natural History

This 1859 work recounts Gosse's nine-month stay in Alabama in 1838–9, with descriptions of the wildlife he observed there.

Philip Henry Gosse (Author)

9781108084536, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 April 2015

324 pages, 31 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 1.8 cm, 0.41 kg

The English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse (1810–88) spent nine months in 1838–9 in a small town in Alabama where he was the teacher at the local school. His time there was unhappy because of the widespread abuse of slaves he witnessed, the support of the practice by his fellow Methodists being particularly distressing. However, he loved the beauty of his surroundings, and the abundant wildlife, and in 1859 he published this account in the form of nineteen letters. Gosse recounts in detail his voyage from Philadelphia to Mobile, Alabama, and the environment around his new home in the hills, with vivid descriptions of the plants, animals and insects he observed there. He rarely mentions slavery specifically, but the arrogance of the masters and the plight of their 'possessions' is a recurring theme in the work. Other books on natural history by Gosse are also reissued in this series.

Preface
1. Philadelphia
2. Mobile
3. School
4. Night scene
5. Ride to Kahawba
6. Indian corn
7. Description of a southern house
8. Robbing bee's nest
9. Peaches
10. Florida coffee
11. Possum hunting by night
12. Manners of the south
13. Night in the swamp
14. Weather and health
15. Cotton-picking
16. A varied walk
17. Association of ideas
18. Postponement of winter
19. A heavy turkey.

Subject Areas: Botany & plant sciences [PST]