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Storia di un ruscello
Questa storia di un corso d'acqua, scritta nel 1869 da un geografo non convenzionale che anticipa idee come la biodiversità, viene inizialmente pubblicata dalla casa editrice Hetzel nella medesima collana di libri per ragazzi del contemporaneo Jules Verne, nei cui romanzi non a caso si ritrovano spesso le vivide descrizioni della natura fatte da Reclus. Metafora della vita umana, il ruscello viene così seguito passo passo lungo il suo cammino: prima sorgente di montagna, poi torrente «veloce e chiassoso come un giovane che entra nella vita», infine fiume più lento, maturo, che arriva fino al mare. Perché riproporre oggi un classico della divulgazione scientifica di fine Ottocento, con i suoi accenti poetici e talvolta retorici? Perché con il Ruscello Reclus ci introduce allo studio diretto della natura, ci propone un modo di fare geografia con i piedi, con gli occhi, con i sensi, oltre che con i libri, e ci offre al contempo un'idea di geografia sociale estremamente attuale.
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1869
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About the author
Élisée Reclus
910 books55 followersÉlisée Reclus, also known as Jacques Élisée Reclus, was a renowned French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes ("Universal Geography"), over a period of nearly 20 years (1875 - 1894). In 1892 he was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal of the Paris Geographical Society for this work, despite his having been banished from France because of his political activism.
Reclus was the second son of a Protestant pastor and his wife. From the family of fourteen children, several, including his brother and fellow geographer Onésime Reclus, went on to achieve renown either as men of letters, politicians or members of the learned professions.
Reclus began his education in Rhenish Prussia, and continued higher studies at the Protestant college of Montauban. He completed his studies at University of Berlin, where he followed a long course of geography under Carl Ritter.
Withdrawing from France because of political events of December 1851, he spent the next six years (1852 - 1857) traveling and working in Great Britain, the United States, Central America, and Colombia. Arriving in Louisiana in 1853, Reclus worked for about two and a half years as a tutor to the children of Septime and Félicité Fortier at their plantation Félicité, located about 50 miles upriver from New Orleans. He recounted his passage through the Mississippi river delta and impressions of antebellum New Orleans and the state in Fragment d'un voyage á Louisiane, published in 1855.
On his return to Paris, Reclus contributed to the Revue des deux mondes, the Tour du monde and other periodicals, a large number of articles embodying the results of his geographical work. Among other works of this period was the short book Histoire d’un ruisseau, in which he traced the development of a great river from source to mouth. From 1867 - 1868 he published La Terre; description des phénomènes de la vie du globe in two volumes.
During the 1870 siege of Paris, Reclus shared in the aerostatic operations conducted by Félix Nadar, and also served in the National Guard. As a member of the Association Nationale des Travailleurs, he published a hostile manifesto against the government of Versailles in support of the Paris Commune of 1871 in the Cri du Peuple.
Continuing to serve in the National Guard, now in open revolt, Reclus was taken prisoner on April 5, and on November 16 was sentenced to deportation for life. Because of intervention by supporters from England, the sentence was commuted in January 1872 to perpetual banishment from France.
After a short visit to Italy, Reclus settled at Clarens, Switzerland, where he resumed his literary labours and produced Histoire d’une montagne, a companion to Histoire d’un ruisseau. There he wrote nearly the whole of his work, La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes, "an examination of every continent and country in terms of the effects that geographic features like rivers and mountains had on human populations—and vice versa," This compilation was profusely illustrated with maps, plans, and engravings. It was awarded the gold medal of the Paris Geographical Society in 1892. An English edition appeared simultaneously, also in 19 volumes, the first four by E. G. Ravenstein, the rest by A.H. Keane. Reclus's writings were characterized by extreme accuracy and brilliant exposition, which gave them permanent literary and scientific value.
Reclus was the second son of a Protestant pastor and his wife. From the family of fourteen children, several, including his brother and fellow geographer Onésime Reclus, went on to achieve renown either as men of letters, politicians or members of the learned professions.
Reclus began his education in Rhenish Prussia, and continued higher studies at the Protestant college of Montauban. He completed his studies at University of Berlin, where he followed a long course of geography under Carl Ritter.
Withdrawing from France because of political events of December 1851, he spent the next six years (1852 - 1857) traveling and working in Great Britain, the United States, Central America, and Colombia. Arriving in Louisiana in 1853, Reclus worked for about two and a half years as a tutor to the children of Septime and Félicité Fortier at their plantation Félicité, located about 50 miles upriver from New Orleans. He recounted his passage through the Mississippi river delta and impressions of antebellum New Orleans and the state in Fragment d'un voyage á Louisiane, published in 1855.
On his return to Paris, Reclus contributed to the Revue des deux mondes, the Tour du monde and other periodicals, a large number of articles embodying the results of his geographical work. Among other works of this period was the short book Histoire d’un ruisseau, in which he traced the development of a great river from source to mouth. From 1867 - 1868 he published La Terre; description des phénomènes de la vie du globe in two volumes.
During the 1870 siege of Paris, Reclus shared in the aerostatic operations conducted by Félix Nadar, and also served in the National Guard. As a member of the Association Nationale des Travailleurs, he published a hostile manifesto against the government of Versailles in support of the Paris Commune of 1871 in the Cri du Peuple.
Continuing to serve in the National Guard, now in open revolt, Reclus was taken prisoner on April 5, and on November 16 was sentenced to deportation for life. Because of intervention by supporters from England, the sentence was commuted in January 1872 to perpetual banishment from France.
After a short visit to Italy, Reclus settled at Clarens, Switzerland, where he resumed his literary labours and produced Histoire d’une montagne, a companion to Histoire d’un ruisseau. There he wrote nearly the whole of his work, La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes, "an examination of every continent and country in terms of the effects that geographic features like rivers and mountains had on human populations—and vice versa," This compilation was profusely illustrated with maps, plans, and engravings. It was awarded the gold medal of the Paris Geographical Society in 1892. An English edition appeared simultaneously, also in 19 volumes, the first four by E. G. Ravenstein, the rest by A.H. Keane. Reclus's writings were characterized by extreme accuracy and brilliant exposition, which gave them permanent literary and scientific value.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 12, 2022
La storia di un ruscello, anche di quello che nasce e si perde fra il muschio, è la storia dell'infinito. Quelle goccioline che scintillano hanno attraversato il granito, il calcare e l'argilla; sono state neve sulla fredda montagna, molecola di vapore in una nuvola, bianca schiuma sulla cresta delle onde; il sole, nel suo corso giornaliero, le ha fatte risplendere dei più vividi riflessi; la pallida luce della luna le ha cosparse di vaghe iridescenze; il fulmine le ha trasformate in idrogeno e ossigeno, e poi con un nuovo impatto ha fatto scorrere come acqua quegli elementi primordiali.
Libro didattico ma anche poetico; commovente per la fiducia che Reclus ripone sulle potenzialità dell'uomo inteso come natura che prende coscienza di sé. Dovrebbe essere una lettura obbligatoria nelle scuole.
November 23, 2024
El arroyo, como su naturaleza misma, se derrama y bifurca sobre toda la realidad de los seres vivos y el ser humano. La humanidad, finalmente, es una extensión del agua que fluye perpetuamente, siento esta donde todos los seres tienen su principio.
September 8, 2025
Este libro me enterró en un bloqueo lector horrible. Había pasajes muy bellos, pero casi todos estaban dilatados por una necesidad de grandilocuencia, por una estela de idealización extraña e incómoda.
April 7, 2025
4,25/5
December 2, 2025
observation d'une chose simple mais qui se révèle être complexe. très inspirant de l'appliquer
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews