The Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife
- The Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife by Lee Raye (Pelagic Publishing, 2023).
- 408 pages; 150 illustrations; 150 maps, graphs and tables.
- ISBN: 9781784274078. Hbk, £45.
- Buy at BirdGuides bookshop from £41.99
The Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife is a deep dive into the state of nature in Britain during the early modern era, and precisely the years 1519-1772. This was a different world to today – long before agricultural intensification and a swiftly warming planet. Unsurprisingly the flora and fauna of our isles was very different – think Corncrakes in Greater London, Wolves and Eurasian Lynx in Scotland and Golden Eagle in the Midlands.
The book begins with an introductory section before running through mammals, birds, fishes, reptiles, amphibians and finally invertebrates, before a conclusion. More than 10,000 records for 153 species are used – a mighty number – and author Lee Raye's smooth writing and clearly interpretable maps make for an enjoyable read, which is all the more impressive given the subject matter could easily lend itself to something difficult to digest. Despite having read through it from start to finish, I've already found myself picking it up at intermittent points to read about a certain species again – this is a perfect coffee-table book in that regard.
Naturally, I found myself drawn to the bird accounts. Some 55 species feature here, chiefly non-passerines. I have always found pre-1900s records of birds to require a pinch of salt – down the years while researching old records in my local area, there are more than a few eyebrow-raising entries, and there are times while reading the accounts in The Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife that I had similar thoughts. Can you rely on all the sources given? Did Great Grey Shrike, with the local name Night-Jarr, really breed in Northamptonshire? Was Northern Wheatear's breeding range exclusively south-east England? Some of the illustrations are taken from contemporary sources – in the case of birds, from John Ray's ornithology of 1678 – and it's safe to say that some of the plates fall quite wide of the mark in terms of accuracy. The multitude of different names used for certain species adds to the uncertainty.
But it is that pinch of salt that should be remembered while reading this tome. Raye only has so much detail to work with, of course, so don't expect complete pictures of the statuses of 17th-century wildlife to be painted. Raye is conservative as a result with his maps – many species would likely have been more widely distributed but, without the records, this can't be assumed.
I found the accounts of two species particularly interesting: White Stork and Great Bustard. These two birds have been the subject of reintroduction projects in England in recent decades, but with contrasting backing – the storks have enjoyed great financial support from Natural England, while the bustards have been ignored. White Stork is considered here as an 'occasional visitor' and by one early source as a 'rare vagrant', while Great Bustard was found at various locales in southern and central England, southern Scotland and even Co Cork in Ireland.
I was looking forward to reading this publication, but even so I enjoyed it more than I expected. Mapping out the status and distribution of our wildlife from centuries ago is no mean feat, but Raye has produced a hugely informative and fascinating publication here, with a long list of references (28 pages!) testament to their thorough research. The Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife is something I'm sure I'll return to with regularity and it's a worthy addition to any book collection.
