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The Passionate Observer
A combination of contemporary watercolors by Marlene McLoughlin and nature writing by the 19th-century French naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre. McLoughlin's watercolors vary from detailed illustrations of Fabre's subjects birds, insects, flowers to landscapes showing the France in which Fabre worked. Fabre's writing is similarly at one moment he is giving vivid descriptions of eggs and fungi, at the next he is telling stories about his grandmother or his theories on heredity. Fabre's writings are excerpts from his 1879 Souvenirs Entomologiques . Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
133 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1998
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About the author
Jean-Henri Fabre
707 books56 followersFabre was born in Saint-Léons in Aveyron, France. Fabre was largely an autodidact, owing to the poverty of his family. Nevertheless, he acquired a primary teaching certificate at the young age of 19 and began teaching at the college of Ajaccio, Corsica, called Carpentras. In 1852, he taught at the lycée in Avignon.
Fabre went on to accomplish many scholarly achievements. He was a popular teacher, physicist, chemist and botanist. However, he is probably best known for his findings in the field of entomology, the study of insects, and is considered by many to be the father of modern entomology. Much of his enduring popularity is due to his marvelous teaching ability and his manner of writing about the lives of insects in biographical form, which he preferred to a clinically detached, journalistic mode of recording. In doing so he combined what he called "my passion for scientific truth" with keen observations and an engaging, colloquial style of writing. Fabre noted: Others again have reproached me with my style, which has not the solemnity, nay, better, the dryness of the schools. They fear lest a page that is read without fatigue should not always be the expression of the truth. Were I to take their word for it, we are profound only on condition of being obscure.
Over the years he wrote a series of texts on insects and arachnids that are collectively known as the Souvenirs Entomologiques. Fabre's influence is felt in the later works of fellow naturalist Charles Darwin, who called Fabre "an inimitable observer". Fabre, however, rejected Darwin's theory of evolution; on the other hand he was not a Biblical creationist either but assumed a saltationist origin of biodiversity.
In one of Fabre's most famous experiments, he arranged processionary caterpillars to form a continuous loop around the edge of a pot. As each caterpillar instinctively followed the silken trail of the caterpillars in front of it, the group moved around in a circle for seven days.
Jean-Henri Fabre's last home and office, the Harmas de Fabre in Provence stands today as a museum devoted to his life and works.
The site of his birth, at St Léons, near Millau is now the site of Micropolis, a tourist attraction dedicated to popularising entomology and a museum on his life.
Fabre went on to accomplish many scholarly achievements. He was a popular teacher, physicist, chemist and botanist. However, he is probably best known for his findings in the field of entomology, the study of insects, and is considered by many to be the father of modern entomology. Much of his enduring popularity is due to his marvelous teaching ability and his manner of writing about the lives of insects in biographical form, which he preferred to a clinically detached, journalistic mode of recording. In doing so he combined what he called "my passion for scientific truth" with keen observations and an engaging, colloquial style of writing. Fabre noted: Others again have reproached me with my style, which has not the solemnity, nay, better, the dryness of the schools. They fear lest a page that is read without fatigue should not always be the expression of the truth. Were I to take their word for it, we are profound only on condition of being obscure.
Over the years he wrote a series of texts on insects and arachnids that are collectively known as the Souvenirs Entomologiques. Fabre's influence is felt in the later works of fellow naturalist Charles Darwin, who called Fabre "an inimitable observer". Fabre, however, rejected Darwin's theory of evolution; on the other hand he was not a Biblical creationist either but assumed a saltationist origin of biodiversity.
In one of Fabre's most famous experiments, he arranged processionary caterpillars to form a continuous loop around the edge of a pot. As each caterpillar instinctively followed the silken trail of the caterpillars in front of it, the group moved around in a circle for seven days.
Jean-Henri Fabre's last home and office, the Harmas de Fabre in Provence stands today as a museum devoted to his life and works.
The site of his birth, at St Léons, near Millau is now the site of Micropolis, a tourist attraction dedicated to popularising entomology and a museum on his life.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 26, 2018
Originally read in March 2000. Rereading in January 2017. Original review is as follows.
Lovely watercolor illustrations by McLouglin accompany these excerpts from the writings of Fabre's classic text on insects, Souvenirs Entomologiques which (we're informed) was a huge hit when it was published back in 1879.
Imagine... in 1879, books on insects were bestsellers. Now there's a world I can relate to.
Read this book for the "Reading Genres" book club "Eurobooks" meeting, for which I decided to concentrate on European entomologists. I read five books, all told, for this meeting, which was undoubtedly overkill, but which I wholeheartedly enjoyed.
Lovely watercolor illustrations by McLouglin accompany these excerpts from the writings of Fabre's classic text on insects, Souvenirs Entomologiques which (we're informed) was a huge hit when it was published back in 1879.
Imagine... in 1879, books on insects were bestsellers. Now there's a world I can relate to.
Read this book for the "Reading Genres" book club "Eurobooks" meeting, for which I decided to concentrate on European entomologists. I read five books, all told, for this meeting, which was undoubtedly overkill, but which I wholeheartedly enjoyed.
June 11, 2018
I would highly recommend to all of those that love Charlotte Mason philosophy, nature, and want to learn more about Jean Henri Fabre. Fair Warning, you might even like him more just because of this book .
February 25, 2018
Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined that a book about the study of insects would fascinate me so much. The author writes in such a magical way when describing EVERYTHING, from Bees to the poverty he grew up in, that I felt as though I was right there beside him amidst the rock-roses and the heather.
December 15, 2021
Beautiful illustrations that reminded me of my time living in the South of France - the reason I picked this book up to begin with.
March 27, 2023
Loved the tiny little watercolor animals.
February 21, 2024
This was a beautiful book. I've been getting into nature books from a single person's perspective with the addition of illustrations. I had heard of Fabre but never read anything of his, so this was a treat being a bug enthusiast myself.
He goes onto many different topics, not just insects. I appreciated the blend of memoir, history, culture, nature facts. His observations are quite interesting, especially when he puts them up against others that were well-accepted at the time that he disagrees with.
I have subtracted a star because at many times the images are far too random. While it isn't necessary for every single image to match the text, there's chapter in which Fabre dedicates MANY pages to describing particular insect eggs. What do we get? Trees. Fields. Very beautiful but generic images. Since this is not the entirety of his work but selected essays to pair up with Marlene McLoughlin's watercolors, it was unfortunate to not see the things he put so much time and consideration into writing. It almost felt at times as if she hadn't read entire sections of the text.
That being said: If you like pretty nature watercolors or are interested in the nature (particularly but not limited to insects) observations of a man recognized by Darwin himself for his work, then definitely check this book out.
He goes onto many different topics, not just insects. I appreciated the blend of memoir, history, culture, nature facts. His observations are quite interesting, especially when he puts them up against others that were well-accepted at the time that he disagrees with.
I have subtracted a star because at many times the images are far too random. While it isn't necessary for every single image to match the text, there's chapter in which Fabre dedicates MANY pages to describing particular insect eggs. What do we get? Trees. Fields. Very beautiful but generic images. Since this is not the entirety of his work but selected essays to pair up with Marlene McLoughlin's watercolors, it was unfortunate to not see the things he put so much time and consideration into writing. It almost felt at times as if she hadn't read entire sections of the text.
That being said: If you like pretty nature watercolors or are interested in the nature (particularly but not limited to insects) observations of a man recognized by Darwin himself for his work, then definitely check this book out.
April 22, 2016
This was a nice collection of nature writings by Fabre. I think I'm going to try to get one of his complete books to read. The watercolor illustrations were beautiful as well.
Full review here: http://oldeship.blogspot.com/2014/08/...
Full review here: http://oldeship.blogspot.com/2014/08/...
July 27, 2017
Early biography and observations of Jean-Henri Fabre.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews