Wild Flowers Worth Knowing

Wild Flowers Worth Knowing
Author Neltje Blanchan,
Asa Don Dickinson
Publisher Doubleday, Page & Company
Publication date
 1917, 1922

Wild Flowers Worth Knowing is a book published in 1917 (and republished in 1922) as a result of an adaptation by Asa Don Dickinson of Neltje Blanchan's earlier work Nature's Garden (1900).

Scope

It covers mostly North American species, with a sprinkling of cosmopolitans, and includes a preface by Blanchan (who died in 1918). The book, along with Birds Worth Knowing (also by Blanchan), and other books such as Animals Worth Knowing, was part of the Little Nature Library series published by Blanchan's husband Frank Nelson Doubleday.[1]

Structure

It contains over 40 color illustrations accompanying the text, which is arranged by plant family under the classification system of Gray's New Manual of Botany as revised by Robinson and Fernald.[2] This is in contrast to Blanchan's earlier work, where the flowers were organized by color.[1] The text of the newer work was also somewhat simplified, and had fewer illustrations than the earlier one.[3]

Reception

Wild Flowers Worth Knowing was briefly reviewed by The Outlook along with a few other books in the Little Nature Library series as, "well printed, well illustrated, and admirably adapted for home and school use."[4] The New York Times review of the book series concludes that the books are "beautifully made" and that in this book the "descriptions are chatty and entertaining." The review goes on to comment that beginners may have difficulty in using Wild Flowers as a practical field guide because it assumes the user can identify the specimen to a plant family.[5]

Public domain

The book was also republished by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation in 2005.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shearin, Gloria. 2008. Neltje Blanchan. In: Patterson, D., Thompson, R., Bryson, S., et al., Early American Nature Writers. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. pp.62-69.
  2. ↑ Wilson, H.W. Wild Flowers Worth Knowing. Book Review Digest Retrospective: 1908-1982, EBSCOhost (accessed May 28, 2012).
  3. ↑ Sears, Minnie Earl. 1930. Children's catalog: a dictionary catalog of 4100 books with analytical entries for 880 books and a classified list indicating subject headings. H.W. Wilson Company. p. 170.
  4. ↑ The New Books. 16 May 1917. The Outlook, Vol. 116, p. 116.
  5. ↑ Notable Books in Brief Review: Well Worth Knowing. 8 July 1917. New York Times.

Further reading