"Marvelous. . . . Wonderfully imaginative. . . . Sparkling."--Wall
Street Journal "Stunning. . . . Read this book: in equal measure it
will give you hope and trouble your dreams."--Laura Dassow Walls,
author of Henry David Thoreau: A Life and Passage to Cosmos:
Alexander von Humboldt's Shaping of America Georg Forster (1754-94)
was in many ways self-taught and rarely had two cents to rub
together, but he became one of the most dynamic figures of the
Enlightenment: a brilliant writer, naturalist, explorer,
illustrator, translator--and a revolutionary. Granted the
extraordinary opportunity to sail around the world as part of
Captain James Cook's fabled crew, Forster touched icebergs, walked
the beaches of Tahiti, visited far-flung foreign nations, lived
with purported cannibals, and crossed oceans and the equator.
Forster recounted the journey in his 1777 book A Voyage Round the
World, a work of travel and science that not only established
Forster as one of the most accomplished stylists of the time--and
led some to credit him as the inventor of the literary travel
narrative--but also influenced other German trailblazers of
scientific and literary writing, most notably Alexander von
Humboldt. A superb essayist, Forster made lasting contributions to
our scientific--and especially botanical and
ornithological--knowledge of the South Seas. Having witnessed more
egalitarian societies in the southern hemisphere, Forster returned
after more than three years at sea to a monarchist Europe entering
the era of revolution. When, following the French Revolution of
1789, French forces occupied the German city of Mainz, Forster
became a leading political actor in the founding of the Republic of
Mainz--the first democratic state on German soil. In an age of
Kantian reason, Forster privileged experience. He claimed a deep
connection between nature and reason, nature and politics, nature
and revolution. His politics was radical in its understanding of
revolution as a natural phenomenon, and in this often overlooked
way his many facets--as voyager, naturalist, and
revolutionary--were intertwined. Yet, in the constellation of the
Enlightenment's trailblazing naturalists, scientists, political
thinkers, and writers, Forster's star remains relatively dim today:
the Republic of Mainz was crushed, and Forster died in exile in
Paris. This book is the source of illumination that Forster's
journey so greatly deserves. Tracing the arc of this unheralded
polymath's short life, Georg Forster explores both his
contributions to literature and science and the enduring
relationship between nature and politics that threaded through his
extraordinary four decades.
General
Imprint: |
University of Chicago Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
February 2019 |
Authors: |
Jurgen Goldstein
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 23mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth over boards
|
Pages: |
240 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-226-46735-1 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-226-46735-X |
Barcode: |
9780226467351 |
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!