Encompassing Nature: A Sourcebook

Rating:
Summary: This is THE benchmark anthology of Nature Writing
Review: Unlike most of the titles one would find listed in the ever-growing "Nature Writing" sections of our bookstores, this one is truly 'foundational'--it begins with childrens's stories, includes selections from the very best of the anthropological literature, ranges from Mesopotamia to India, Japan to China, & then offers the most inclusive represtentative selection of writings (religious, epic, scientific, poetic) from the West, beginning with the ancient Greeks and ending in the early 18th century. Many of the translations are new and quite stunning (see especially the Petrarch and Dante), the historical introductions and commentaries are models of concision, and the volume is graced by the most complete and detailed index imaginable. This is a book that will reset the ways in which people think about "Nature Writing" for decades to come.