(Excerpt from His Second Campaign
Some wide-armed oaks an...)
Excerpt from His Second Campaign
Some wide-armed oaks and slender pines grew all about. In every direction mountain peaks rose against the blue North Georgia sky. The air had all the freshness and fragrance of the South.
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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
(Maurice Thompson's 1879 book "The Witchery of Archery" wa...)
Maurice Thompson's 1879 book "The Witchery of Archery" was the main inspiration for the increase of interest in archery in the United States at the beginning of the century. Dr. R.P. Elmer wrote of it "That wonderful little book has had as much effect on archery as Uncle Tom's Cabin had on the Civil War!"
The Witchery of Archery was the first book in English about hunting with a bow ever published. At the time of its publication the book was well received for its wit and use of common language:
“Maurice Thompson's graphic articles will delight the lovers of Archery, which ancient sport finds new life and freshness under the vigorous touches of his pen."—New York Tribune.
“The book is full of the flavor of nature, like those of Thoreau and john Burroughs."-—-Hartford Courant.
“Mr. Thompson is a devoted disciple of the bow, and he writes with a freshness and enthusiasm that are contagious."—Cincinnati Times.
"Mr. Thompson, knight of the bow and quiver, with file help of many graceful pictures, charms us with his dissertations upon his old-time sport.” —New York Churchman
Maurice Thompson (1844 – 1901) was an American author, naturalist, and expert in archery. Thompson became well known as a local colorist, with works ranging from local history to archery.
When Thompson wrote The Witchery of Archery, he filled it with various stories, many of which were humorous. However, it also gave practical advice on the sport, such as the manufacturing of archery paraphernalia and how to use the equipment while hunting.
The Witchery of Archery was accredited for returning the sport of archery to public interest. Some of this was due to rifles bringing back bad memories of the American Civil War. However, the revival also served some larger, pragmatic purpose: ex-Confederate soldiers were not allowed guns, but needed hunting to survive; archery became a convenient substitution.
In addition, the late 1800s saw the last of the American Indian Wars, thus romanticizing the Native Americans and their cultures, which, in most accounts, included expert archery.
More than any other book, The Witchery of Archery led to the increased interest in archery for the next half-century.
A year after The Witchery of Archery was published, Thompson was selected as the first president of the National Archery Association, largely due to the book.
(4 works of Maurice Thompson
American novelist (1844-1901)...)
4 works of Maurice Thompson
American novelist (1844-1901)
This ebook presents a collection of 4 works of Maurice Thompson. A dynamic table of contents allows you to jump directly to the work selected.
Table of Contents:
- A Fortnight of Folly
- Alice of Old Vincennes
- Eleven Possible Cases
- Hoosier Mosaics
(
This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
My Winter Garden: A Nature-Lover Under Southern Skies (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from My Winter Garden: A Nature-Lover Under South...)
Excerpt from My Winter Garden: A Nature-Lover Under Southern Skies
For the deeds told in this book are mostly of the lightest nature, such as men do in their hours of play between strenuous labors not so easy to note down. Doings of my season of recreation are here put to gether at haphazard. Thoughts of my idlest days have the right of way over these pages.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
(
This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
James Maurice Thompson was an American poet and author, better known as Maurice Thompson.
Background
James Maurice Thompson was born in 1844 in Fairfield, Indiana. He was by traditions and temperament a Southerner. His paternal ancestors, a family of Scotch-Irish extraction, had been pioneers in the South since the seventeenth century. His father, the Rev. Matthew Grigg Thompson (married Diantha Jaeger), was a Baptist minister who was living at Fairfield, Ind. , at the time of Maurice's birth, but who shortly moved to Missouri, to Kentucky, and finally, about 1854, to a plantation in the Coosawattee valley of north Georgia.
Education
In Georgia the son's education, directed by a mother of unusual gifts and by such tutors as a schoolless region afforded, was almost evenly divided between the study of books and the study of nature, both of which remained lifelong passions.
Career
At seventeen Thompson entered the Confederate army, and served for three years with loyalty and distinction. After the war, which left the family destitute, he studied both civil engineering and law in Calhoun, Ga. , until the rigors of Reconstruction drove him to try his fortune in the North. In 1868, quite penniless, he drew up at Crawfordsville, Ind. , to work as civil engineer on a railroad there building.
Civil engineering he soon relinquished (1871) in favor of law, and for thirteen years he was a practising lawyer whose avocation was literature. In 1884 he turned to literary work alone. He was a state legislator in 1879, and for two terms (1885 – 88) creditably filled the position of state geologist. In the South he had contributed verse and prose to Scott's Monthly Magazine (Atlanta, Ga. ) and other literary publications; in 1871 the New York Tribune and in April 1873 the Atlantic Monthly introduced him to the East.
His reputation was speedily increased by a series of magazine articles on archery, a sport which he and his brother, Will Henry Thompson (1848 – 1918), were the principal agents in reviving, and soon his stories, poems, and sketches, published in all the leading periodicals, contributed to a reputation for letters that grew to be the most commanding of his generation in the Middle West. For the last twelve years of his life he was non-resident literary editor of the Independent. After his first book, dialect sketches called Hoosier Mosaics (1875), he published several books on archery, a number of books for juvenile readers, three collections of nature sketches – By-Ways and Bird Notes (1885), Sylvan Secrets, in Bird-Songs and Books (1887), and My Winter Garden (1900) – a number of books of fiction, and two of poems, Songs of Fair Weather (1883) and Poems (1892).
As critic, he was notably the militant and uncompromising opponent of the rising tide of realism. His strong romantic bias found expression in his own fiction. In addition to three or four unimportant novelettes, he wrote A Tallahassee Girl (1881), His Second Campaign (1883), At Love's Extremes (1885), all sentimental novels of Southern life and character; The King of Honey Island (copyright 1892), an historical romance of the same region, and A Banker of Bankersville (copyright 1886), a study of Indiana village life. No signal success attended any of these performances until Alice of Old Vincennes (copyright 1900), an historical romance of the George Rogers Clark expedition of 1779, brought him at the very end of his career nation-wide popularity. Retiring by nature, he shrank from any kind of publicity, refusing repeated offers of editorial positions and lectureships.
He died of pneumonia at his home, Sherwood Place, Crawfordsville. He was survived by his wife, two daughters, and a son.
Quotations:
"So long as the new moon returns in heaven a bent, beautiful bow, so long will the fascination of archery keep hold in the hearts of men. "
"When Spring is old, and dewy windsBlow from the south, with odors sweet, I see my love, in shadowy groves, Speed down dark aisles on shining feet. "
"There is no excellence in archery without great labour. "
Personality
Though lithe and athletic, he was not robust of constitution, and regularly spent the winters in the South.
Connections
He married Alice Lee, daughter of John Lee, his employer.