Wild Animals I Have Known

Wild Animals I Have Known (New York, 1898), Ernest Thompson Seton's most famous collection of animal stories, reprinted numerous times and translated into at least 15 languages, is reputed to be one of the best-selling books of any Canadian writer. Seton was a lifelong naturalist, scientist, painter and illustrator; the first edition of Wild Animals appeared with "two hundred drawings by the author." For some critics, Seton is one of the originators of the realistic animal story; to others his stories exemplify the Canadian writer's tendency to depict animals as victims (see Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature). Seton's best-known story, "Lobo, The King of Currumpaw," is representative in its dramatic but meticulous recreation of a particular animal and its notorious exploits, as well as in its presentation of the wolf's tragic end at the hands of man. Wild Animals I Have Known established Seton with a wide public as a keen-eyed naturalist and a natural storyteller.