Spare the Birds! George Bird Grinnell and the First Audubon Society

In this eclectic and uneven work, Merchant (Autonomous Nature), professor of environmental history, philosophy, and ethics at UC Berkeley, examines the writings of George Bird Grinnell (1849–1938) and the “gendered issues underlying his role in saving avifauna.” Grinnell grew up on the Audubon estate in New York City, where he was taught and deeply influenced by Lucy Audubon, the widow of famed naturalist and masterful painter John James Audubon. Merchant’s scholarly prose depicts Grinnell’s gradual awakening to a wildlife crisis: the decimation of birds brought on by society’s obsession with adorning women’s hats with feathers and dead birds. His moderate success in convincing men to stop the pointless killing and women to repudiate the frivolous fad led to his founding of the first Audubon Society in 1886 and Audubon Magazine a year later. But by 1889 he was forced to dissolve both. After a brief profile of Grinnell, Merchant largely reprints Grinnell’s Audubon Magazine writings, adding necessary commentary. The most enjoyable passages are the (too few) excerpts from John Audubon’s own journals. Merchant’s work fills a narrow niche, but interested parties will appreciate Grinnell’s lively portrayals of several common bird species accompanied by Audubon color plates. Illus. [em](Sept.) [/em]