Nature books Gene Stratton-Porter

front cover of moths of limberlost (1912)

stratton-porter, keen observer of nature, wrote 8 nonfiction nature books moderate sellers compared novels. have done birds (1907) first appeared six-month illustrated series ladies home journal april august 1906. bobbs-merrill company published material in book format includes stratton-porter’s photographs. birds of bible (1909), illustrated reference book published jennings , graham of cincinnati, included eighty-one of stratton-porter’s photographs. both of these nature books slow sellers. music of wild (1910), published jennings , graham, warned of adverse effects destruction of trees , swamps have on rainfall. warnings appeared 2 decades before dust bowl of 1930s , in advance of present-day environmental concerns climate change.

moths of limberlost (1912), nature book of stratton-porter proud, dedicated neltje blanchan, fellow nature writer , wife of publisher, frank nelson doubleday. prior move california in 1919, stratton-porter completed manuscript homing birds (1919). praised content, described birdlife using easy-to-understand language general public. wings (1923) published year before death; tales won t believe (1925) published posthumously.

while literary critics called novels overly sentimental, academics dismissed nature writing because felt research methods unscientific. stratton-porter, not trained scientist, centered field research on own interests in observing domestic behavior of wild birds, such nest-building, diets, , social behavior. writing tried explain nature in ways readers understand , avoided scientific jargon , tedious, dry statistics.