Additional information
by Stanley Clisby Arthur (Author)
"In recreating The American Woodsman, as Audubon so delighted to characterize himself, it is with the hope that I shall let him speak for himself, and set him wandering again in the printed pages as he did, a century and more ago, through the magnolia forests of his beloved Louisiana."
--Stanley Clisby Arthur, from the Prologue
John James Audubon was one of the greatest artists and naturalists of all time. For many years a biographical screen consisting of a heterogeneous combination of fact, fancy, and misrepresentation obscured the real Audubon. Some of the contributions to this shroud were penned by loving but misguided relatives who, through domestic partiality when writing about him, colored his life misleadingly. His own account of himself and his affairs, which was never completed and was generously edited before being given to the public, is manifestly not four-square with fact . . . for Audubon had a romantic imagination which defeats verification.
This detailed biography provides an extensive look into the background of a man variously described as a dandy, an unkempt wanderer, and a gifted artist. Above all, it is clear that John James Audubon was a man of many talents, revealed here in his own words.
Author Biography
A native of California, Stanley Clisby Arthur spent several years as a journalist as well as a war correspondent in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. Arthur arrived in Louisiana in 1915 and came to view it as his adopted home, dedicating much of his life to documenting its customs, culture, and history. According to the introduction to Walking Tours of Old New Orleans, Arthur's greatest talent lay in his ability to delve into neglected historical sources and give life to the facts within. Arthur was the head of the Louisiana Fish and Wildlife Department for many years. His love of the outdoors is reflected in his novel about naturalist John Audubon, titled Audubon: An Intimate Life of the American Woodsman . During the Great Depression, Arthur was appointed regional director of the Survey of Federal Archives. This allowed him to delve even more deeply into the history of New Orleans and Louisiana, and he published several more historical works. Stanley Clisby Arthur died in 1963 at the age of eighty-eight.
