Cambridge Library Collection – Life Sciences: Letters from Alabama (U.S.): Chiefly Relating to Natural History

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.