Journal kept by David Douglas during his Travels in North America 1823-1827. 1914 (Reprint 2011). (Cambridge Library Collection, Life Sciences). 380 p. gr8vo. Paper bd.

David Douglas (1799-1834), the influential Scottishbotanist and plant collector, trained as a gardener before attending Perth College and Glasgow University. His genius for botany flourished and his talents came to the attention of the Royal Horticultural Society. With the society's backing he went to North America in 1823, beginning his life-long fascination with the region's flora. He discovered thousands of new species and introduced 240 of them to Britain, including the Douglas fir. Douglas continued to explore and discover plant species until his death in the Sandwich Islands (present-day Hawaii) in 1834. This remarkable journal, which remained unpublished until 1914, describes his adventures in North America during 1823-7. It alsoincludes extracts from his journal of his explorations of Hawaii during 1833-4. The appendices include alisting of the plants Douglas introduced to Britain, and contemporary accounts of investigations into the mysterious circumstances of his death.