Other editions of book Wild Animals I Have Known

Wild animals I have known (1898) by Ernest Thompson Seton, illustrated with 200 drawings.THESE STORIES are true. The animals in this book were all real characters. They lived the lives depicted here, and showed the stamp of heroism and personality more strongly by far than it has been in the power of my pen to tell. Natural history has lost much by the vague general treatment that is so common. What satisfaction would be derived from a ten-page sketch of the habits and customs of Man? How much more profitable it would be to devote that space to the life of some one great man. This is the principle I have endeavored to apply to my animals. The real personality of the individual, and his view of life are my theme, rather than the ways of the race in general, as viewed by a casual and hostile human eye.

At about the same time at the great American writer Jack London, English-born Ernest Seton-Thompson was making a name for himself as another of the early originators of the animal fiction genre. Wild Animals I Have Known, published in 1898, is his most famous and popular work and is a collection of short stories that gives animals — including those commonly demonized — humanistic emotions, often sympathetically. This work, along with others like it, set off what would become known as the nature fakers controversy, when leading artists and literary figures — and even President Roosevelt — clashed over “sentimental” depictions of animals.

This antiquarian volume contains Ernest Thompson Seton’s 1900 work, “Wild Animals I Have Known”. This profusely illustrated collection of stories contains factual accounts of the lives of eight wild animals, including: “Lobo, The King Of Currumpaw”, “Silverspot, The Story Of A Crow”, “Raggylug, The Story Of A Cottontail Rabbit”, “Bingo, The Story Of A Dog”, “The Springfield Fox”, “The Pacing Mustang”, “Wully, "The Story Of A Yaller Dog”, And “Redruff, The Story Of The Don Valley Partridge”. These moving and inspiring stories are highly recommended for animal-lovers, and would make for great additions to any personal library. Ernest Thompson Seton (1860 - 1946) was a British artist, author, and one of the founders of the 'Boy Scouts of America'. Many vintage texts such as this, especially those dating back to the 1900s and before, are increasingly hard to come by and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high quality edition. It comes complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

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.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.

The first entry in a new genre of realistic wild-animal fiction, Wild Animals I Have Known, 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.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. In This Book: Lobo, the King of Currumpaw Silverspot, the Story of a Crow Raggylug, the Story of a Cottontail Rabbit Bingo, the Story of My Dog The Springfield Fox The Pacing Mustang Wully, the Story of a Yaller Dog Redruff, the Story of the Don Valley Partridge THESE STORIES are true. Although I have left the strict line of historical truth in many places, the animals in this book were all real characters. They lived the lives I have depicted, and showed the stamp of heroism and personality more strongly by far than it has been in the power of my pen to tell.Ernest Thompson Seton (born Ernest Evan Thompson[1] August 14, 1860 – died October 23, 1946) was an author (published in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the US), wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians in 1902 (renamed Woodcraft League of America) and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in 1910. Seton also influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. His notable books related to Scouting include The Birch Bark Roll and the Boy Scout Handbook. He is responsible for the appropriation and incorporation of what he believed to be American Indian elements into the traditions of the BSA.Seton was born in South Shields, County Durham (now part of South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear), England of Scottish parents. His family emigrated to Canada in 1866. Most of his childhood was spent in Toronto, Ontario and known to have lived at 6 Aberdeen Avenue in Cabbagetown. As a youth, he retreated to the woods of the Don River to draw and study animals as a way of avoiding his abusive father. He won a scholarship in art to the Royal Academy in London, England.[2]On his twenty-first birthday, Seton's father presented him with an invoice for all the expenses connected with his childhood and youth, including the fee charged by the doctor who delivered him. He paid the bill, but never spoke to his father again.He changed his name to Ernest Thompson Seton, believing that Seton had been an important family name. He became successful as a writer, artist and naturalist, and moved to New York City to further his career. Seton later lived at Wyndygoul, an estate that he built in Cos Cob, a section of Greenwich, Connecticut. After experiencing vandalism by the local youth, Seton invited them to his estate for a weekend where he told them what he claimed were stories of the American Indians and of nature.He formed the Woodcraft Indians in 1902 and invited the local youth to join. Despite the name, the group was made up of non-native boys and girls. The stories became a series of articles written for the Ladies Home Journal, and were eventually collected in The Birch Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians in 1906. Shortly after, the Woodcraft Indians evolved into the Woodcraft Rangers.

In his introduction to this book Ernest Seton Thompson wrote, "Since, then, the animals are creatures with wants and feelings differing in degree only from our own, they surely have their rights." He tries his best in this book to express through true stories of wild Animals he knew or heard about, the majesty of the animal kingdom and the need for compassion in dealing with natures creatures big and small. This edition is reformatted but includes the over 200 illustrated drawings that were included in the first edition of this book.