In the 1770s, William Bartram's love of nature led him to explore the environs of the American Southeast, where he collected plants and seeds, kept a journal of his observations, and made drawings of the plants and animals he encountered. This book collects Bartram's 68 skillful illustrations from London's Natural History Museum, while the text fleshes out the life and career of this visionary ecologist who exerted a strong influence upon the poets Wordsworth and Coleridge.