Catesby, Sloane, Linnaeus, Bartram, Audubon, Darwin – the list of prolific natural historians goes on, but few know of the man who majorly contributed to ornithological scientific knowledge in South Carolina during the early 1900s – Arthur T. Wayne. Just ahead of SEWE, join the CLS, in conjunction with Buxton Books, in welcoming award-winning novelist, poet, biographer, and historian William P. Baldwin as he presents the re-edited Birds of South Carolina, highlighting Baldwin and Wayne’s great works, including illustrations by John James Audubon. Baldwin will explore the findings of Wayne, those which, some would say, surpassed Audubon in impact to the South Carolina Lowcountry, and except for a few trips to Florida, were all collected within walking distance of his home in the Lowcountry. The connection between the Library Society and natural history runs deep: many of the aforementioned natural historians’ work is held in our Special Collections, some of which will be on display during the program. A SEWE aperitif, if you will!
If you are unable to attend the event but would like to purchase one or more signed copies, please visit Buxton Books here.
About Birds of South Carolina
This Limited Edition 2 Volume Set highlights the works of William P. Baldwin in conjunction with Arthur T. Wayne, famous ornithologist of the early 1900’s. The Lowcountry’s Own: In the early 1900’s, Arthur T. Wayne was an American ornithologist who worked in South Carolina. He was involved in the rediscovery of several species of birds including Swainson’s warbler and Bachman’s warbler. Wayne’s warbler, a subspecies of Setophaga virens is named after him. Wayne impacted the body of ornithological scientific knowledge in South Carolina.
About the Author
A lifelong resident of the Carolina Low Country, William P. Baldwin is an award-winning novelist, poet, biographer and historian. He graduated from Clemson with a BA in History and an MA in English. He ran a shrimp boat for nine years then built houses, but the principle occupation of his life has been writing.
His works include the popular oral histories Mrs. Whaley and Her Charleston Garden and, with Genevieve “Sister” Peterkin, Heaven is a Beautiful Place. The screen play for the latter earned him a Silver Remy at the Houston Film Festival. Journey of a Hope Merchant, the life of around the world solo sailor Neal Petersen, won the National Outdoor Writing Award. For its depiction of Southern race relations his first novel The Hard to Catch won the Lillian Smith Award He wrote three more. Charleston Magazine called Baldwin’s latest, Charles Town, “a robust, self-confident conglomeration of sophistication, bawdiness, and bravado…a tour de force.”
With photographer V. Elizabeth Turk he did Mantelpieces of the Old South and supplied the text for chef Charlotte Jenkin’s Gullah Cuisine. He collaborated with architectural photographer N. Jane Iseley on Charleston, Charleston Impressions, Daytrips from Charleston, Plantations of the Low Country, and Low Country Plantations Today.
Done with photographer Selden Hill and published in 2011, The Unpainted South won the Gold Benjamin Franklin Award for poetry given by the Independent Book Sellers Association. The follow up collection These Our Offerings earned a second Benjamin Franklin Award. Both were published with Evening Post Books. In 2018 Class Publishing brought out Carolina Rambling: a Visual and Poetical Tour. A fine match to the earlier two, this collection features Selden Hill’s color photography. Southern Prayers with photographs and drawings by Tony Griffin is the most recent to use his poetry.
Baldwin’s writing has also appeared in Charleston, Garden and Gun, Southern Living, Victoria, Veranda, Southern Accents, Grace, Humans and Nature magazines, the Atlanta Constitution, and on the electronic poetry site: Poem du jour.
The ticket price below includes a boxed lunch for you to enjoy during the program.
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