For our assignments and discussion this week, we will be working in Special Collections in Smathers East (2nd Floor).  You will need to plan ahead to complete this assignment as you will actually work in Special Colletions.  They are not open in the evenings.  Schedule accordingly!

Our focus will be the American naturalist William Bartram (1739-1823).  As we discussed in class, he had an immense impact not only in America but also in Europe.
Read the Michael Gaudio article on Bartram (linked to the syllabus) and then go up to Special Collections and glance thru Bartram's illustrations.  These illustrations are in the volume:
Bartram, William, and Joseph Ewan.
William Bartram: Botanical and Zoological Drawings, 1756-1788
Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1968.
Go to the front desk in Special Collections.  Identify yourself as a student in the class, and they will have the text waiting for you on reserve.

Once you have gone through these two sources, answer the following question in a one-page essay.
From what you have read and observed, in what ways was William Bartram a naturalist?  At the same time, in what ways (if any) should we consider him a utopian thinker?  Make sure you refer to evidence in both the article and the drawings. 

If you do want more background on Bartram, there are two excellent web sites to use:


Dan Schafer’s insightful online essay at http://www.unf.edu/floridahistoryonline/Projects/Bartram.html 

and the Florida Museum of Natural History website at  http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/naturalists/bartramw01.htm