John Burroughs is still revered by some conservationists and bird watchers as the Homer of the nature essay. As a literary critic, however, he has been met since his death in 1921 with a silence that belies the influence he exercised during a half century writing for the nonacademic yet thoughtful reader. Indeed, many fancied him a sage, a distinction which he perhaps did too little to discourage. His literary talents are influenced mainly by the American transcendentalists and their English precursors. As a young man he befriended Walt Whitman; combined with his own growing popularity, his warm evaluations of Whitman's work helped convince the public to recognize a writer they would have as soon condemned.

Burroughs was born on 3 April 1837 to Chauncey A. and Amy Kelly Burroughs on a small farm at Roxbury, New York, the seventh of ten children. He received what schooling he could from country...