Other editions of book Far Away and Long Ago : A History of My Early Life

W.H. Hudson, in full William Henry Hudson (born August 4, 1841, near Buenos Aires, Argentina—died August 18, 1922, London, England), British author, naturalist, and ornithologist, best known for his exotic romances, especially Green Mansions. Hudson’s parents were originally New Englanders who took up sheep farming in Argentina. He spent his childhood—lovingly recalled in Far Away and Long Ago (1918)—freely roaming the pampas, studying the plant and animal life, and observing both natural and human dramas on what was then a lawless frontier. After an illness at 15 permanently affected his health, he became introspective and studious; his reading of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species, which confirmed his own observations of nature, had a particularly strong impact. After his parents’ death, he led a wandering life. Little is known of this period or of his early years in England, where he settled in 1869 (and was naturalized in 1900). Poverty and ill-health may have occasioned his marriage in 1876 to a woman much older than himself. He and his wife lived precariously on the proceeds of two boardinghouses, until she inherited a house in the Bayswater section of London, where Hudson spent the rest of his life. His early books, romances with a South American setting, are weak in characterization but imbued with a brooding sense of nature’s power. Although Hudson’s reputation now rests chiefly on these novels, when published they attracted little attention. The first, The Purple Land that England Lost, 2 vol. (1885), was followed by several long short stories, collected in 1902 as El Ombú. His last romance, Green Mansions (1904), is the strange love story of Rima, a mysterious creature of the forest, half bird and half human. Rima, the best known of Hudson’s characters, is the subject of the statue by Jacob Epstein in the bird sanctuary erected in Hudson’s memory in Hyde Park, London, in 1925. The romances secured Hudson the friendship of many English men of letters, among them Joseph Conrad, Ford Madox Ford, Edward Garnett, and George Gissing. His books on ornithological studies (Argentine Ornithology, 1888–89; British Birds, 1895; etc.) brought recognition from the statesman Sir Edward Grey, who procured him a state pension in 1901. He finally achieved fame with his books on the English countryside—Afoot in England (1909), A Shepherd’s Life (1910), Dead Man’s Plack (1920), A Traveller in Little Things (1921), and A Hind in Richmond Park (1922). By their detailed, imaginative descriptions, conveying the sensations of one who accepted nature in all its aspects, these works did much to foster the “back-to-nature” movement of the 1920s and 1930s but were subsequently little read.

The autobiography of W. H. Hudson contains unique and sensuous insights into his early life in provincial Argentina during the mid-19th century. By the time he published this retrospective account of his formative years, W. H. Hudson was a highly respected and famous naturalist and ornithologist, responsible for the expansion and development of both disciplines. He was also a novelist, publishing tales of romantic adventure to praise. Although he held a special love for his native Argentina, and the Patagonia region of South America, Hudson would permanently migrate to England in 1874, remaining there for most of his remaining years. His studies and comparisons of the avian species of Britain and his native land were welcomed by the academic establishment in the UK, who found Hudson's papers well-researched and informed by their author's origins.

Lang:- eng, Pages 246. Reprinted in 2015 with the help of original edition published long back[1943]. This book is in black & white, Hardcover, sewing binding for longer life with Matt laminated multi-Colour Dust Cover, Printed on high quality Paper, re-sized as per Current standards, professionally processed without changing its contents. As these are old books, there may be some pages which are blur or missing or black spots. We expect that you will understand our compulsion in these books. We found this book important for the readers who want to know more about our old treasure so we brought it back to the shelves. Hope you will like it and give your comments and suggestions. Title: Far away and long ago : a history of my early life 1943 [Hardcover], Author: Hudson, W. H. (William Henry), Cunninghame Graham, R. B. (Robert Bontine), Rosarivo, Raúl M. , ill,Limited Editions Club

William Henry Hudson (4 August 1841 – 18 August 1922) was an author, naturalist, and ornithologist. Life and work: Hudson was born in the borough of Quilmes, now Florencio Varela of the greater Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. He was the son of Daniel Hudson and his wife Catherine née Kemble, United States settlers of English and Irish origin. He spent his youth studying the local flora and fauna and observing both natural and human dramas on what was then a lawless frontier, publishing his ornithological work in Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society, initially in an English mingled with Spanish idioms. He had a special love of Patagonia. Hudson settled in England during 1874, taking up residence at St Luke's Road in Bayswater. He produced a series of ornithological studies, including Argentine Ornithology (1888–1899) and British Birds (1895), and later achieved fame with his books on the English countryside, including Hampshire Day (1903), Afoot in England (1909) and A Shepherd's Life (1910), which helped foster the back-to-nature movement of the 1920s and 1930s. It was set in Wiltshire and inspired a later book The Shepherd's Life about a Lake District farmer which was published in 2015. He was a founding member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Hudson's best known novel is Green Mansions (1904), and his best known non-fiction is Far Away and Long Ago (1918), which was made into a film. Ernest Hemingway famously referred to Hudson's book The Purple Land (1885) in his novel The Sun Also Rises and also referred to Hudson's Far Away and Long Ago in his posthumous novel The Garden of Eden (1986). In Argentina, Hudson is considered to belong to the national literature as Guillermo Enrique Hudson, the Spanish version of his name. A town in Berazategui Partido and several other public places and institutions are named after him. Towards the end of his life, Hudson moved to Worthing in Sussex, England. His grave is in Broadwater and Worthing Cemetery in Worthing.

Excerpt from Far Away and Long Ago: A History of My Early LifeIt was through falling into some such state as that, during which I had a wonderfully clear and continuous vision of the past, that I was tempted - forced I may say - 40 write this account of my early years. I will relate the occasion, as I imagine that the reader who is a psychologist will find as much to interest him in this incident as in anything else contained in the book.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis 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.

The autobiography of W. H. Hudson contains unique and sensuous insights into his early life in provincial Argentina during the mid-19th century. By the time he published this retrospective account of his formative years, W. H. Hudson was a highly respected and famous naturalist and ornithologist, responsible for the expansion and development of both disciplines. He was also a novelist, publishing tales of romantic adventure to praise. Although he held a special love for his native Argentina, and the Patagonia region of South America, Hudson would permanently migrate to England in 1874, remaining there for most of his remaining years. His studies and comparisons of the avian species of Britain and his native land were welcomed by the academic establishment in the UK, who found Hudson's papers well-researched and informed by their author's origins. In contrast to Hudson's professional output, Far Away and Long Ago relates tales of pastoral life in Argentina, a nation which at the time of Hudson's childhood had barely begun to industrialise. The natural habitat, traditions of the locals, and Hudson's early observations of birds are chronicled, as is his very first journey to the capital city of Buenos Aires. A treasure for its historical insight into an Argentina now long past, and for charting the early years of a talented naturalist, Far Away and Long Ago is a highly accessible and interesting autobiography.