Green Laurels: The Lives and Achievements of the Great Naturalists, 1938

Originally published by Simon and Schuster in 1936 and reissued in this De Luxe Edition by Garden City Publishing Co. in 1938, Green Laurels is a sweeping and beautifully written history of natural science told through the lives of the men who shaped it.

Donald Culross Peattie traces the story from medieval herbalists and Renaissance thinkers through the age of Linnaeus, Buffon, Darwin, Audubon, and beyond, weaving biography, philosophy, and natural history into a readable narrative.

The fifteen chapters cover figures including Buffon, Lamarck, Cuvier, Goethe, Alfred Russel Wallace, John and William Bartram, Alexander Wilson, and the entomologist Fabre, among many others.

Condition: The book is bound in two-tone green cloth with gold lettering and decorative border detailing on the spine panel. The spine shows fading, light scuffing, and a small tear. The boards are clean with minor shelf wear at the corners and edges. The interior pages are crisp and well-preserved with minimal toning, and the binding is tight and solid.