Wild Animals I Have Known

Last updated
Wild Animals I Have Known
Wild Animals I Have Known - Cover.jpg
Author Ernest Thompson Seton (as Ernest Seton-Thompson)
IllustratorErnest Thompson Seton
LanguageEnglish
SubjectAnimals
GenreChildren's literature
Published1898
Publisher Charles Scribner's Sons
Publication placeUnited States
Pages359
Text Wild Animals I Have Known at Wikisource
Illustration from Ernest Thompson Seton's Wild Animals I Have Known (1898) Wild Animals Tannerey.jpg
Illustration from Ernest Thompson Seton's Wild Animals I Have Known (1898)

Wild Animals I Have Known is an 1898 book by naturalist and author Ernest Thompson Seton. The first entry in a new genre of realistic wild-animal fiction, Seton's first collection of short stories quickly became one of the most popular books of its day. "Lobo the King of Currumpaw", the first story in the collection, was based upon Seton's experience hunting wolves in the southwestern United States. It became a classic, setting the tone for his future works that would similarly depict animals—especially predators who were often demonized in literature—as compassionate, individualistic beings.

Contents

Several years after its publication, Seton and his works came under fire during the nature fakers controversy, which began in 1903 when naturalist John Burroughs published an essay called "Real and Sham Natural History" in The Atlantic Monthly . In particular Burroughs blamed Seton's collection of stories for founding the sentimental animal story genre, which he felt featured fabricated events and wild animal behaviors; he even amended the title of the collection to Wild Animals I Alone Have Known. [1]

Contents

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Thompson Seton</span> Canadian and American writer and artist (1860–1946)

Ernest Thompson Seton was a Canadian and American author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians in 1902, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in 1910.

The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collections, and publishes academic journals and books on plant and animal biology. The society also awards a number of prestigious medals and prizes.

<i>The Call of the Wild</i> 1903 novel by Jack London

The Call of the Wild is a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck. The story opens at a ranch in Santa Clara Valley, California, when Buck is stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. He becomes progressively more primitive and wild in the harsh environment, where he is forced to fight to survive and dominate other dogs. By the end, he sheds the veneer of civilization, and relies on primordial instinct and learned experience to emerge as a leader in the wild.

<i>White Fang</i> 1906 novel by Jack London

White Fang is a novel by American author Jack London (1876–1916) about a wild wolfdog's journey to domestication in Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush. First serialized in Outing magazine between May and October 1906, it was published in book form in October 1906. It is a companion novel to London's best-known work, The Call of the Wild (1903), which is about a kidnapped, domesticated dog embracing his wild ancestry to survive and thrive in the wild.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Lydekker</span> English naturalist, geologist and writer (1849–1915)

Richard Lydekker was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Burroughs</span> American naturalist and essayist (1837–1921)

John Burroughs was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was Wake-Robin in 1871.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles G. D. Roberts</span> Canadian poet and prose writer (1860-1943)

Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts was a Canadian poet and prose writer. He was one of the first Canadian authors to be internationally known. He published various works on Canadian exploration and natural history, verse, travel books, and fiction." He continued to be a well-known "man of letters" until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mexican wolf</span> Subspecies of grey wolf

The Mexican wolf, also known as the lobo mexicano is a subspecies of gray wolf native to eastern and southeastern Arizona and western and southern New Mexico and fragmented areas of northern Mexico. Historically, the subspecies ranged from eastern Southern California south into Baja California, east through the Sonora and Chihuahua Deserts and into West Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nature writing</span> Nonfiction or fiction prose or poetry about the natural environment, literary genre

Nature writing is nonfiction or fiction prose about the natural environment. It often draws heavily from scientific information and facts while also incorporating philosophical reflection upon various aspects of nature. Works are frequently written in the first person and include personal observations.

<i>Langs Fairy Books</i> 1889 to 1913 story books for children

The Langs' Fairy Books are a series of 25 collections of true and fictional stories for children published between 1889 and 1913 by Andrew Lang and his wife, Leonora Blanche Alleyne. The best known books of the series are the 12 collections of fairy tales also known as Andrew Lang's "Coloured" Fairy Books or Andrew Lang's Fairy Books of Many Colors. In all, the volumes feature 798 stories, besides the 153 poems in The Blue Poetry Book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William J. Long</span>

William Joseph Long was an American writer, naturalist and minister. He lived and worked in Stamford, Connecticut as a minister of the First Congregationalist Church.

The John Burroughs Medal, named for nature writer John Burroughs (1837–1921), is awarded each year in April by the John Burroughs Association to the author of a book that the association has judged to be distinguished in the field of natural history. Only twice has the award been given to a work of fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early history of fantasy</span>

Elements of the supernatural and the fantastic were an element of literature from its beginning, though the idea of a distinct genre, in the modern sense, is less than two centuries old.

<i>The Legend of Lobo</i> 1962 American film

The Legend of Lobo is a 1962 American animal-adventure film that follows the life and adventures of Lobo, a wolf born and raised in southwestern North America. Based upon "Lobo the King of Currumpaw" by Ernest Thompson Seton from the author's 1898 book titled Wild Animals I Have Known, neither the time period nor the precise location are specified in the film, in part because the story is told as much from a wolf's point of view as from a human's. There is no dialogue in the film, with the only interpretation presented through the use of story-song composed and sung by the Sons of the Pioneers and the Sherman Brothers, and narration by Rex Allen. Based on the non-fiction account by Seton, Lobo is an 1890s wolf from an account by Seton who was a naturalist, and was a bounty hunter in the real-life story. Filming took place in Sedona, Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lobo, the King of Currumpaw</span> Short story by Ernest Thompson Seton

"Lobo, the King of Currumpaw" is the first story of author Ernest Thompson Seton's 1898 book Wild Animals I Have Known. Seton based the book on his experience hunting wolves in the Southwestern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talking animals in fiction</span> Theme in mythology and folk tales

Talking animals are a common element in mythology and folk tales, children's literature, and modern comic books and animated cartoons. Fictional talking animals often are anthropomorphic, possessing human-like qualities. Whether they are realistic animals or fantastical ones, talking animals serve a wide range of uses in literature, from teaching morality to providing social commentary. Realistic talking animals are often found in fables, religious texts, indigenous texts, wilderness coming of age stories, naturalist fiction, animal autobiography, animal satire, and in works featuring pets and domesticated animals. Conversely, fantastical and more anthropomorphic animals are often found in the fairy tale, science fiction, toy story, and fantasy genres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarzan</span> Fictional character from Edgar Rice Burroughss Tarzan of the Apes

Tarzan is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nature fakers controversy</span> Academic debate

The nature fakers controversy was an early 20th-century American literary debate highlighting the conflict between science and sentiment in popular nature writing. The debate involved important American literary, environmental and political figures. Dubbed the "War of the Naturalists" by The New York Times, it revealed seemingly irreconcilable contemporary views of the natural world: while some nature writers of the day argued as to the veracity of their examples of anthropomorphic wild animals, others questioned an animal's ability to adapt, learn, teach, and reason.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Marion Patch</span> American entomologist (1876–1954)

Edith Marion Patch was an American entomologist and writer. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, she received a degree from the University of Minnesota in 1901 and originally embarked on a career as an English teacher before receiving the opportunity to organize the entomology department at the University of Maine. She became the head of the entomology department in 1904, and, despite misgivings from several male colleagues about having a female department head, she remained in this post until her retirement in 1937. Patch is recognized as the first truly successful professional woman entomologist in the United States.

William Grill is a British illustrator, whose first children's book, Shackleton's Journey, depicting Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2015.

References

  1. Burroughs, John. (March 1903.) "Real and Sham Natural History". The Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved on May 4, 2010.