Description
William Henry Hudson (1841-1922) was a significant literary figure during late nineteenth and early twentieth-century England, where his writings were much admired by fellow authors including such popular writers as John Galsworthy, Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Ford. Hudson was an unusual combination: an arcane, enigmatic figure to whom the poet laureate, John Masefield, attributed four of the most romantic books of their time, and a distinguished naturalist, the author of outstanding books of travel in Latin America and rural England, definitive texts on the ornithology of Argentina and popular books about British birds. His standing as a British writer derives support from the fact that, without seeking it, he was elected Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and appointed to its academic committee. His place in Hispanic Letters is signified by his inclusion in The Oxford Companion to Hispanic Literature . Most of the letters in this collection were written by Hudson to carefully chosen friends and confidants, among whom were well-known authors, poets, artists, naturalists, conservationists and the indomitable Ranee Margaret of Sarawak, consort of the second white Rajah, Sir Charles Brooke. They are personal, uninhibited communications never intended for publication, in which he poured his thoughts onto paper as fast as his pen could cope. From these letters, we gain an understanding of the real Hudson. They give insight into his days as a collector of bird skins in South America and his lifelong dedication to, and work for, wild bird conservation in Britain. There are accounts of his English rural rambles: of landscapes, flora, wildlife behavior, lodging places, people he met, their modes of life and the stories they told, some of which he included in his books. Hudson criticizes books, poetry and their authors; remarks on the progress and publication of his own books; and comments on journal contributions, journals and their editors.
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