After the publication of the first volume of The Birds of America and its heralded reception in Philadelphia, John Audubon and his two assistants departed in late September 1831 to the new Florida territory to pursue, collect and draw Florida waterbirds and regional exotics for Audubon's Great Work. Enroute, they established a "base camp" In Charleston with John Bachman a resident. Audubon learned of his election to the Academy of Natural Sciences and began his correspondence and writing about his daily exploration adventures. Using government ships and accomodations, they sailed for St. Augustine: explored and collected bird specimens in North Florida, and Audubon drew birds for his Great Work. Next, they sailed for Key West, stopping for collecting at Keys along the way. They spent time in Key West with great success and in late May 1832 the Audubon party returned to Charleston and Philadelphia. Audubon continued his journals and incorporated his drawings, paintings into his "great work," The Birds of America.
After the publication of the first volume of
The Birds of America and its heralded reception in Philadelphia and London, Audubon departed from England in July 1831 for his next adventure: to pursue Florida waterbirds and other regional exotics. Accompanying him on the ship were his wife Lucy and Henry Ward, a young English taxidermist whom Audubon had engaged to assist in collecting and preserving specimens during the Florida expedition. Their first destination was Philadelphia, where Audubon hired George Lehman, a Swiss landscape painter, to accompany him and Ward in Florida. Mrs. Audubon departed for Louisville. Audubon also arranged with G.W. Featherstonehaugh, the editor of
The Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural Science, to publish
reports of their Florida
journey.In late September 1821, Audubon and his two assistants traveled to Washington. Here, the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Treasury approved the party's travel out of Charleston on a government revenue cutter to the Floridian coastal outposts between St. Augustine and Key West. The party left Washington and traveled by various modes of transport until, in Audubon's words, they "at length approached Charleston . . . with unfeigned delight."Audubon's expedition was intended to last from late November 1831 to the end of May 1832. It included the north Florida area, which had been explored by William Bartram in his
Travels, and it would continue along the Atlantic coast to Key West. However, circumstances changed, and Audubon's party first explored slightly southward near St. Augustine, then around the St. Johns River, from November 20, 1831, until March 5, 1832. They returned to Charleston and spent a month with Bachman, then traveled directly to the Florida Keys, where they explored from April 15 through May 31, 1832.For Audubon, as reflected in his letters and journal entries, the north Florida exploration was less productive and less enjoyable than their exploration of the Florida Keys. Both areas prompted his many paintings, writings, and letters about Florida's birds and natural history. These inspired and informed
John Audubon Explores Florida: Poems.
Bennett, Thomas Peter: - Thomas Peter Bennett is a Florida native on perpetual sabbatical as an independent scholar and poet. A former professor and natural history museum executive, he is the author of scientific articles and books, as well as poems and collections on topics featured in The Applause of Science. After graduating from Florida State University (FSU) with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, Bennett earned his PhD in biochemistry from Rockefeller University and became an assistant professor at Harvard University. He returned to FSU as a professor and chair of biological sciences and later served as special assistant to the president and as acting executive vice president. He began his museum work as the president of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, now of Drexel University. He then became a dean, professor, and the director of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. He became the executive director of the South Florida Museum and retired as emeritus director. Bennett's poetry pursuits in his youth were linked to the exploration of Florida's woods, swamps, springs, lakes, rivers, beaches, and familiarity with nature. His biophilia was scientifically reinforced through Scouting, high school biology and chemistry studies, and his work as a laboratory assistant at the Southern Bio-Research Laboratory. His scientific interests in nature were reflected in his poetry. As an undergraduate student at FSU, Bennett assisted chemistry professor Earl Frieden, with whom he published a review article and, later, Modern Topics in Biochemistry (1966). His two summers in the undergraduate student program at Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor led to Hike On: Poems from Mount Desert Island, Maine (2008). Bennett's graduate school mentor, Fritz Lipmann, had encouraged him to "do things not strictly biochemistry." Poetry led him to workshops and studies with the poet Mary Oliver at Bennington College. His poems have appeared in many publications (see Acknowledgements). The most recent collection is Florida Sketches: William Baldwin Follows Bartram's Tracks (2019). Bennett is a member of The Explorers Club and the Cosmos Club.
