Difference between revisions of "History of the Earth, and Animated Nature"

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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature''}}
 
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature''}}
 
===by Oliver Goldsmith===
 
===by Oliver Goldsmith===
__NOTOC__
 
 
{{BookPageInfoBox
 
{{BookPageInfoBox
 
|imagename=GoldsmithHistoryOfTheEarth1795v4.jpg
 
|imagename=GoldsmithHistoryOfTheEarth1795v4.jpg
|link=https://catalog.swem.wm.edu/law/Record/564136
+
|link=https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991024668749703196
 
|shorttitle=An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature
 
|shorttitle=An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature
 
|vol=volume four
 
|vol=volume four
 
|ed=First American
 
|ed=First American
|author=Oliver Goldsmith
+
|author=[[:Category:Oliver Goldsmith|Oliver Goldsmith]]
|lang=English
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|lang=[[:Category:English|English]]
|publoc=Philadelphia
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|publoc=[[:Category:Philadelphia|Philadelphia]]
 
|publisher=Printed for Mathew Carey
 
|publisher=Printed for Mathew Carey
 
|year=1795
 
|year=1795
 
|set=4
 
|set=4
|desc=8vo. (22 cm.)  
+
|desc=[[:Category:Octavos|8vo]] (22 cm.)  
}}[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith] (1728?-1774) was an early 17th century Irish playwright and novelist whose exact birthplace and date are still disputed.<ref>John A. Dussinger, [http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.wm.edu/view/article/10924 "Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?–1774)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed 6 Oct 2013.</ref> After an unsuccessful medical career, Goldsmith turned his hand to writing. His most famous works include the 1773 novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'', and the play, ''She Stoops to Conquer'', written in 1766 and first performed in 1773. Despite his literary fame and success, Goldsmith struggled financially throughout until his death.<ref>Ibid.</ref><br />
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|shelf=N-4
<br />
+
}}[[wikipedia:Oliver Goldsmith|Oliver Goldsmith]] (1728? &ndash; 1774) was an early 17th century Irish playwright and novelist whose exact birthplace and date are still disputed.<ref>John A. Dussinger, "[http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.wm.edu/view/article/10924 Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?–1774)]," ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed 6 Oct 2013.</ref> After an unsuccessful medical career, Goldsmith turned his hand to writing. His most famous works include the 1773 novel ''[[wikipedia:The Vicar of Wakefield|The Vicar of Wakefield]],'' and the play, ''[[wikipedia:She Stoops to Conquer|She Stoops to Conquer]],'' written in 1766 and first performed in 1773. Despite his literary fame and success, Goldsmith struggled financially throughout until his death.<ref>Ibid.</ref>
 +
 
 
[[File:GoldsmithHistoryOfAnimatedNature1795v4Illustration51.jpg |left|thumb|450px|<center>Plate 51, volume 4</center>]]
 
[[File:GoldsmithHistoryOfAnimatedNature1795v4Illustration51.jpg |left|thumb|450px|<center>Plate 51, volume 4</center>]]
Towards the end of his life, Goldsmith became fascinated with the environment and sought to create a definitive text chronicling biological life on the planet.<ref>Dickinson College website, s.v. [http://users.dickinson.edu/~nicholsa/Romnat/goldsmith.htm "Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74)"], accessed October 5, 2013.</ref> ''An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature'' was known not only for the breadth of information about wildlife of all kinds, but also for its early distinction between the types of sciences. Early in the text Goldsmith carefully delineates the realms of general and material physics, as well as the role of nature and natural law, while speaking dismissively of a Supreme Being.<ref>Oliver Goldsmith, ''A History of Earth and Animated Nature'' (London: Printed for J. Nourse 1774).</ref> In a main thematic piece that stretches through all eight volumes of the work, Goldsmith, a notable naturalist, exposes serious flaws within the naturalist position; he reveals the loose boundary between the most sensitive of plants and the most stationary and unresponsive of animals, and criticizes the popular notion of a well defined hierarchy in favor of a more loose continuum of sentient life.<ref>Dickinson College website, s.v. "Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74)."</ref>
+
Towards the end of his life, Goldsmith became fascinated with the environment and sought to create a definitive text chronicling biological life on the planet.<ref>Dickinson College website, s.v. "[http://users.dickinson.edu/~nicholsa/Romnat/goldsmith.htm Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74)]," accessed October 5, 2013.</ref> ''An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature'' was known not only for the breadth of information about wildlife of all kinds, but also for its early distinction between the types of sciences. Early in the text Goldsmith carefully delineates the realms of general and material physics, as well as the role of nature and natural law, while speaking dismissively of a Supreme Being.<ref>Oliver Goldsmith, ''A History of Earth and Animated Nature'' (London: Printed for J. Nourse 1774).</ref> In a main thematic piece that stretches through all eight volumes of the work, Goldsmith, a notable naturalist, exposes serious flaws within the naturalist position; he reveals the loose boundary between the most sensitive of plants and the most stationary and unresponsive of animals, and criticizes the popular notion of a well defined hierarchy in favor of a more loose continuum of sentient life.<ref>Dickinson College website, s.v. "Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74)."</ref>
[[File:GoldsmithHistoryOfAnimatedNature1795v4Inscription.jpg|left|thumb|250px|<center>Inscription, front blank, volume 4</center>]]
 
  
 +
[[File:GoldsmithHistoryOfAnimatedNature1795v4Inscription.jpg|left|thumb|300px|<center>Inscription, front blank, volume 4</center>]]
 
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
 
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as ''Goldsmith’s Animated Nature. 4.v. 8vo.'' This was one of the titles kept by [[Thomas Jefferson]] and later sold to the Library of Congress in 1815. Both the [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref> Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433</ref> and [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s. v. [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe "Member: George Wythe"] accessed on November 11, 2013.</ref> on LibraryThing include the first American edition (1795) based on Millicent Sowerby's entry in ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson''.<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'' 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 1:467 [no.1026].</ref> The volumes no longer exist to verify the edition, nevertheless, the Wolf Law Library's [[George Wythe Collection]] includes the edition recommended by Sowerby.
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 +
Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as "Goldsmith’s Animated Nature. 4.v. 8vo." This was one of the titles kept by [[Thomas Jefferson]] and later sold to the Library of Congress in 1815. Both the [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref> Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433</ref> and [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s.v. [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe "Member: George Wythe"] accessed on November 11, 2013.</ref> on LibraryThing include the first American edition (1795) based on Millicent Sowerby's entry in ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson''.<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'' (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 1:467 [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015033648091;view=1up;seq=497 [no.1026]].</ref> The volumes no longer exist to verify the edition, nevertheless, the Wolf Law Library's [[George Wythe Collection]] includes the edition recommended by Sowerby.
  
 
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
 
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
Bound in quarter-calf and marbled boards. Volumes one, two and four inscribed "Zephaniah Knopfe, Book Bought of C. Conrad Price $2.50" on a front blank. Volume four includes the additional inscription "E. Smith's, 1854." Purchased from B&L Rootenberg Rare Books.<br />
+
 
<br />
+
Bound in quarter-calf and marbled boards. Volumes one, two and four inscribed "Zephaniah Knopfe, Book Bought of C. Conrad Price $2.50" on a front blank. Volume four includes the additional inscription "E. Smith's, 1854." Purchased from B&L Rootenberg Rare Books.
Find this book in [https://catalog.swem.wm.edu/law/Record/564136 William & Mary's online catalog].
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 +
Images of the library's copy of this book are [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/sets/72157637698134725 available on Flickr.] View the record for this book in [https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991024668749703196 William & Mary's online catalog].
 +
 
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==See also==
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 +
<div style="overflow: hidden;">
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*[[George Wythe Room]]
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*[[Jefferson Inventory]]
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*[[Wythe's Library]]
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</div>
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
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==External Links==
 
==External Links==
Read volume II from the [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t5w66b55c;view=1up;seq=7 Hathi Trust].<br />
 
Read volume III from the [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t7cr5pg3m;view=1up;seq=7 Hathi Trust].<br />
 
Read volume IV from the [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t84j0c403;view=1up;seq=5 Hathi Trust].<br />
 
  
 +
*Read volume II from the [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t5w66b55c;view=1up;seq=7 Hathi Trust].<br />
 +
*Read volume III from the [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t7cr5pg3m;view=1up;seq=7 Hathi Trust].<br />
 +
*Read volume IV from the [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t84j0c403;view=1up;seq=5 Hathi Trust].<br />
 +
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__NOTOC__
 
[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
 
[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
 +
[[Category:Jefferson's Books]]
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[[Category:Oliver Goldsmith]]
 
[[Category:Science and Medicine]]
 
[[Category:Science and Medicine]]
 
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]
 
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]
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[[Category:English]]
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[[Category:Octavos]]
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[[Category:Philadelphia]]

Latest revision as of 10:20, 29 October 2021

by Oliver Goldsmith

An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature
GoldsmithHistoryOfTheEarth1795v4.jpg

Title page from An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature, volume four, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.

Author Oliver Goldsmith
Editor {{{editor}}}
Translator {{{trans}}}
Published Philadelphia: Printed for Mathew Carey
Date 1795
Edition {{{edition}}}
Language English
Volumes 4 volume set
Pages {{{pages}}}
Desc. 8vo (22 cm.)
Location Shelf N-4
  [[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

Oliver Goldsmith (1728? – 1774) was an early 17th century Irish playwright and novelist whose exact birthplace and date are still disputed.[1] After an unsuccessful medical career, Goldsmith turned his hand to writing. His most famous works include the 1773 novel The Vicar of Wakefield, and the play, She Stoops to Conquer, written in 1766 and first performed in 1773. Despite his literary fame and success, Goldsmith struggled financially throughout until his death.[2]

Plate 51, volume 4

Towards the end of his life, Goldsmith became fascinated with the environment and sought to create a definitive text chronicling biological life on the planet.[3] An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature was known not only for the breadth of information about wildlife of all kinds, but also for its early distinction between the types of sciences. Early in the text Goldsmith carefully delineates the realms of general and material physics, as well as the role of nature and natural law, while speaking dismissively of a Supreme Being.[4] In a main thematic piece that stretches through all eight volumes of the work, Goldsmith, a notable naturalist, exposes serious flaws within the naturalist position; he reveals the loose boundary between the most sensitive of plants and the most stationary and unresponsive of animals, and criticizes the popular notion of a well defined hierarchy in favor of a more loose continuum of sentient life.[5]

Inscription, front blank, volume 4

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "Goldsmith’s Animated Nature. 4.v. 8vo." This was one of the titles kept by Thomas Jefferson and later sold to the Library of Congress in 1815. Both the Brown Bibliography[6] and George Wythe's Library[7] on LibraryThing include the first American edition (1795) based on Millicent Sowerby's entry in Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson.[8] The volumes no longer exist to verify the edition, nevertheless, the Wolf Law Library's George Wythe Collection includes the edition recommended by Sowerby.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in quarter-calf and marbled boards. Volumes one, two and four inscribed "Zephaniah Knopfe, Book Bought of C. Conrad Price $2.50" on a front blank. Volume four includes the additional inscription "E. Smith's, 1854." Purchased from B&L Rootenberg Rare Books.

Images of the library's copy of this book are available on Flickr. View the record for this book in William & Mary's online catalog.

See also

References

  1. John A. Dussinger, "Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?–1774)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed 6 Oct 2013.
  2. Ibid.
  3. Dickinson College website, s.v. "Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74)," accessed October 5, 2013.
  4. Oliver Goldsmith, A History of Earth and Animated Nature (London: Printed for J. Nourse 1774).
  5. Dickinson College website, s.v. "Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74)."
  6. Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
  7. LibraryThing, s.v. "Member: George Wythe" accessed on November 11, 2013.
  8. E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 1:467 [no.1026].

External Links