The Illustrated Natural History of Selborne

Book excerpt: More than two centuries have passed since Gilbert While was laid to rest in his unassuming grave in Selborne churchyard but published in 1789, still makes delightful reading today. His regular correspondence, beginning in 1767, with two distinguished naturalists, Thomas Pennant and the Honourable Daines Barrington, forms the basis of The Natural History of Selborne. of its description, which have earned it the distinction of being the only work on natural history to have received equal acclaim as a masterpiece of English literature.