Eric Sloane was a painter of clouds and sky who built the Hall of Atmosphere in the American Museum of Natural History. He also wrote several books about weather. Later he produced manuals and three-dimensional models of weather phenomena for training military flyers during World War II. His interest in weather drew him toward old diaries and almanacs that were filled with the weather lore of early American countrymen. And this, in turn, acquainted him with the countrymans reverence for wood.
One result was this wonderful book, whose prose is illustrated with more than 70 of Sloans skilful pen-and-ink drawings. Theres an excellent marriage between his writing and drawing. Just when you wonder exactly what some of his words might mean, along comes another drawing to make everything perfectly clear again. Many of the drawings are very detailed and packed with fascinating information about long ago wood lore.
If you like this book, youll probably enjoy anything written by May Theilgaard Watts, a fine naturalist who knew how to draw. You may especially enjoy her "Reading the Landscape of America" at the same time as you enjoy Sloans "Our Vanishing Landscape."
Pretty neat.
A wonderful marriage between writing and drawing