George Perkins Marsh: Prophet of Conservation

Lowenthal, David

ISBN 10: 0295979429 / ISBN 13: 9780295979427

Published by University of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington, 2000

About this Item

Seattle, WA: University Press, 2000. 1st edition, inscribed by author on FFE, presentation copy, NF/NF. Book and dust jacket have light wear to spine ends, some bumping to upper corners. Illustrated with black & white plates, 3 maps. Includes notes, bibliography and index. "Marsh (1801-1882) was the first to reveal the menace of environmental misuse, to explain its causes, and to prescribe reforms. Thoreau and Muir were (and are) better known, but neither had the political impact of Marsh and his writings." Nice copy, 605 pp. BP.

Seller Inventory # 005331

Bibliographic Details

• Title: George Perkins Marsh: Prophet of Conservation
• Publisher: University of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0295979429
• ISBN 13: 9780295979427
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

George Perkins Marsh (1801–1882) was the first to reveal the menace of environmental misuse, to explain its causes, and to prescribe reforms. David Lowenthal here offers fresh insights, from new sources, into Marsh’s career and shows his relevance today, in a book which has its roots in but wholly supersedes Lowenthal’s earlier biography George Perkins Marsh: Versatile Vermonter (1958). Marsh’s devotion to the repair of nature, to the concerns of working people, to women’s rights, and to historical stewardship resonate more than ever. His Vermont birthplace is now a national park chronicling American conservation, and the crusade he launched is now global.

Marsh’s seminal book Man and Nature is famed for its ecological acumen. The clue to its inception lies in Marsh’s many-sided engagement in the life of his time. The broadest scholar of his day, he was an acclaimed linguist, lawyer, congressman, and renowned diplomat who served 25 years as U.S. envoy to Turkey and to Italy. He helped found and guide the Smithsonian Institution, shaped the Washington Monument, penned potent tracts on fisheries and on irrigation, spearheaded public science, art, and architecture. He wrote on camels and corporate corruption, Icelandic grammar and Alpine glaciers. His pungent and provocative letters illuminate life on both sides of the Atlantic.

Like Darwin’s Origin of Species, Marsh’s Man and Nature marked the inception of a truly modern way of looking at the world, of taking care lest we irreversibly degrade the fabric of humanized nature we are bound to manage. Marsh’s ominous warnings inspired reforestation, watershed management, soil conservation, and nature protection in his day and ours.

George Perkings Marsh: Prophet of Conservation was awarded the Association for American Geographers' 2000 J. B. Jackson Prize. The book was also on the shortlist for the first British Academy Book Prize, awarded in December 2001.

About the Author

David Lowenthal is professor emeritus of geography at University College London. His books include The Past Is a Foreign Country, West Indian Societies, and The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History.