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Days Afield on Staten Island
Excerpt from Days Afield on Staten Island
Thus with some of the members of that collecting and tramping fraternity, of which the Island possesses a goodly number, I went afield, but more often I rambled alone. Nature seems to speak more directly to a lone rambler, and to a number of persons in company she rarely says a word. Two, at most, can tread evenly the same path. Can be touched by the same sense, and echo to each other with pleasant minor changes, the influences of the way.
In character these pages are miscellaneous as were the excursions they commemorate, and they might have been much extended, but perhaps a small potion of an untried compound will be preferred by the reader. It is the fashion to condemn, and I do not expect the majority to be at variance with that mood, but perhaps to some loiterer by the hedge-rows, I may speak sincerely, and he will prize the result of my humble effort to write something of nature and old Staten Island. W. T. D.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Thus with some of the members of that collecting and tramping fraternity, of which the Island possesses a goodly number, I went afield, but more often I rambled alone. Nature seems to speak more directly to a lone rambler, and to a number of persons in company she rarely says a word. Two, at most, can tread evenly the same path. Can be touched by the same sense, and echo to each other with pleasant minor changes, the influences of the way.
In character these pages are miscellaneous as were the excursions they commemorate, and they might have been much extended, but perhaps a small potion of an untried compound will be preferred by the reader. It is the fashion to condemn, and I do not expect the majority to be at variance with that mood, but perhaps to some loiterer by the hedge-rows, I may speak sincerely, and he will prize the result of my humble effort to write something of nature and old Staten Island. W. T. D.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
- GenresNonfiction
139 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1892
About the author
William Thompson Davis
12 booksWilliam Thompson Davis (1862–1945) was an American naturalist, entomologist, and historian especially associated with Staten Island in New York City. He was prominent in the borough's affairs throughout his life.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
read-in-2019
April 8, 2019An ode to the natural landscape and human intertwining with it, direct from 1890s Staten Island. Davis has a good poetic sense of rendering the island he lived on in words but this isn't nearly as weird and wonderful as his later essentially mythological index Staten Island Names; Ye Olde Names and Nicknames. But regardless, I respect his eye for the proto-anthropocene: all the ways in which humans reshape the land, changing and being changed by it. He even lingers in the already-post-human spaces, wandering fallow fields and abandoned stone houses, poking through old letters lying in the dust of the long deserted attics. I can identify.
March 26, 2021
Quite an overlooked gem. Davis explores the intertwining of natural and man-made landscapes with sparkling prose and an air of nostalgia for summer evenings and the hush of winter. How Staten Island has changed since then . . .
August 17, 2011
Beautiful, quaint and dreamy prose about my hometown in the late 1800's.
October 5, 2024
to me, this is a personal perfect - it includes my favorite components of nature writing and often transcends the rigmarole of just fact-writing. This reads like a personal journal; sometimes technical, sometimes contemplative, often historical.
It fills me with wonder and curiosity, and it is interesting to see how in being written it is the same wonder and curiosity of a landscape from 100 years prior.
Slice of life, valuable reads like these should be in our schools - they inspire folks to observe and appreciate, even in mundanity.
Recommend!
It fills me with wonder and curiosity, and it is interesting to see how in being written it is the same wonder and curiosity of a landscape from 100 years prior.
Slice of life, valuable reads like these should be in our schools - they inspire folks to observe and appreciate, even in mundanity.
Recommend!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews