Talk: Gilbert White Only Wrote One Book

Gilbert White Only Wrote One Book…So why are there 1,000 (and more) copies in the Great Parlour?

Ronnie Davidson-Houston will talk about his collection of The Natural History of Selborne (confidently believed to be the most complete collection of its kind), which he donated to the museum in 2010. His interest in Gilbert White began at the age of about 10, when he found a copy in his school library, leading to the publication of his edition of The Illustrated Natural History of Selborne in 1981 (which is still in print). As a publisher, he was fascinated by the variety of ways in which the same book could be published over the course of two centuries, and in 1986 began collecting in earnest. He is still pursuing a handful of elusive American and Japanese impressions, for which he has optimistically left space on the shelves in the Great Parlour.

Part of the Gilbert White 300 Talk Series