The language of birds is very ancient, and, like other ancient modes of speech, very elliptical: little is said, but much is meant and understood..

Gilbert White, Letter XLIII to Daines Barrington, 9 September 1778

'The Natural History of Selborne' has become part of that curious concoction of ideas and artefacts, which are seen as somehow defining 'the English way of life.'

First appearing in 1788, 'Selborne' is the fourth most frequently published book in the English language, behind The Bible, the Oxford English Dictionary and the works of William Shakespeare.

When English settlers emigrated to the colonies in the last century, 'Selborne' was packed alongside the family bibles and sprigs of heather. Coleridge jotted notes in the margin of his copy and thought it 'a sweet and delightful book'. Darwin praised it as one of the chief reasons for his interest in biology.

(Extracts reproduced by the kind permission of Richard Mabey from his award winning biography of Gilbert White in 1986.)

Gilbert White was a pioneering naturalist and ornithologist. White was born at Selborne Hampshire, England on July 18, 1720. His house in Selborne, The Wakes, now contains the Gilbert White Museum, as well as the Oates Memorial Museum, commemorating Frank and Lawrence Oates.

For the very first time, 'The Natural History of Selborne' is now available as an unabridged audio book, and has a duration of almost 11 hours of magical listening, comprising:


Letters to Thomas Pennant Esq.
TITLES and TIMINGS.
1. Gilbert White’s Introduction Jan 1st 1788: 3 Min’s 48 secs.
2. Letter I ‘The Village – Part I.’: 6 Min’s 52 secs.
3. Letter II ‘The Village – Part II.’: 5 Min’s 03 secs.
4. Letter III ‘Fossils.’: 3 Min’s 24 secs.
5. Letter IV ‘Stone.’: 4 Min’s 29 secs.
6. Letter V ‘Forest’s & Red Deer.’: 5 Min’s 18 secs.
7. Letter VI ‘Forest’s & Red Deer’ Cont: 6 Min’s 49 secs.
8. Letter VII ‘Burnings.’: 6 Min’s 09 secs.
9. Letter VIII ‘Three Ponds.’: 6 Min’s 07 secs.
10. Letter IX ‘The Holt.’: 4 Min’s 40 secs.
11. Letter X ‘Birds of Passage.’: 6 Min’s 50 secs.

Letters to Thomas Pennant Esq.
TITLES and TIMINGS.
1. Letter XI ‘Birds Seen 1’: 5 Min’s 26 secs.
2. Letter XII ‘Mouse’s Nest & Foreign Birds.’: 7 Min’s 21 secs.
3. Letter XIII ‘Birds & Mice.’: 7 Min’s 09 secs.
4. Letter XIV ‘Fallow Deer.’: 2 Min’s 58 secs.
5. Letter XV ‘Birds Seen II.’: 4 Min’s 15 secs.
6. Letter XVI ‘Birds Of Passage (List Included).’: 5 Min’s 43 secs.
7. Letter XVII ‘Frogs, Toads & Snakes.’: 8 Min’s 39 secs.
8. Letter XVIII ‘The Water Eft.’: 5 Min’s 26 secs.
9. Letter XIX ‘Willow Wrens.’: 1 Min’s 57 secs.
10. Letter XX ‘Ring Ousels.’: 5 Min’s 09 secs.
11. Letter XXI ‘Birds (General).’: 4 Min’s 23 secs.
12. Letter XXII ‘Spires / Churn-Owls.’: 6 Min’s 16 secs.

Letters to Thomas Pennant Esq.
TITLES and TIMINGS.
1. Letter XXIII ‘Swallows.’: 5 Min’s 24 secs.
2. Letter XXIV ‘Salicaria & Poem to Thomas Pennant ‘The Naturalist’s Summer Evening Walk.’: 7 Min’s 17 secs.
3. Letter XXV ‘Bird Migration / Snake.’: 4 Min’s 58 secs.
4. Letter XXVI ‘Various Creatures.’: 6 Min’s 58 secs.
5. Letter XXVII ‘Various Creatures’ Cont: 3 Min’s 43 secs.
6. Letter XXVIII ‘The Moose.’: 4 Min’s 38 secs.
7. Letter XXIX ‘The Habit of Birds.’: 4 Min’s 15 secs.
8. Letter XXX ‘Natural Historians.’: 2 Min’s 44 secs .
9. Letter XXXI ‘Natural Historians’ Cont: 3 Min’s 15 secs.
10. Letter XXXII ‘Scopoli / Gibraltar.’: 2 Min’s 38 secs.
11. Letter XXXIII ‘Scopoli / Gibraltar’ Cont: 4 Min’s 35 secs.
12. Letter XXXIV ‘Insects.’: 4 Min’s 25 secs.
13. Letter XXXV ‘Peacocks.’: 1 Min 36 secs.
14. Letter XXXVI ‘Bats.’: 2 Min’s 36 secs.
15. Letter XXXVII ‘Birds (General, Includes Migration)’: 2 Min’s 05 secs.
16. Letter XXXVIII ‘Birds (General, Includes Breeding)’: 3 Min’s 14 secs.
17. Letter XXXIX ‘Observations.’: 6 Min’s 08 secs.

Letters to Thomas Pennant Esq. and start of Letters to The Hon. Daines Barrington.
TITLES and TIMINGS.
1. Letter XL ‘More Observations.’: 10 Min’s 13 secs.
2. Letter XLI ‘Soft Billed Birds.’: 4 Min’s 59 secs.
3. Letter XLII ‘Ireland / Scotland.’: 3 Min’s 33 secs.
4. Letter XLIII ‘Buzzards / Sparrow Hawks.’: 2 Min’s 56 secs.
5. Letter XLIV ‘Doves.’: 8 Min’s 03 secs.
6. Letter I ‘A List of Summer and Winter Birds of Passage.’: 11 Min’s 01 sec.
7. Letter II ‘A List of Singing Birds.’: 10 Min’s 34 secs.
8. Letter III ‘Observations of Singing Birds.’: 4 Min’s 13 secs.
9. Letter IV ‘Birds (General, Featuring Cuckoos.)’: 3 Min’s 57 secs.
10. Letter V ‘Birds (General Investigations): 5 Min’s 45 secs.

Letters to The Hon. Daines Barrington.
TITLES and TIMINGS.
1. Letter Vl ‘Birds (Including Migration / Plumage.): 4 Min’s 45 secs.
2. Letter Vll ‘Scopoli, Observations, The Sussex Coast.’: 8 Min’s 00 secs.
3. Letter Vlll ‘Nidification.’: 7 Min’s 29 secs.
4. Letter lX ‘Migration.’: 9 Min’s 16 secs.
5. Letter X ‘Bird Song & Migration.’: 5 Min’s 46 secs.
6. Letter Xl ‘Congregations of Birds.’: 4 Min’s 04 secs.
7. Letter Xll ‘General Observations.’: 2 Min’s 05 secs.
8. Letter Xlll ‘The Tortoise.’: 3 Min’s 59 secs.
9. Letter XlV ‘Sagacity & Instinct.’: 6 Min’s 36 secs.
10. Letter XV ‘Owls / Swallows / Lice.’: 9 Min’s 11 secs.

Letters to The Hon. Daines Barrington.
TITLES and TIMINGS.
1. Letter XVl ‘House Martins (Includes Nest.): 13 Min’s 13 secs.
2. Letter XVll ‘The South Downs / Various Inhabitants.’: 11 Min’s 02 secs.
3. Letter XVlll ‘The Swallow.’: 12 Min’s 24 secs.
4. Letter XlX ‘The Swallow & General Observations.’: 4 Min’s 49 secs.
5. Letter XX ‘The Sand Martin.’: 10 Min’s 27 secs.
6. Letter XXl ‘The Swift.’: 19 Min’s 39 secs.

Letters to The Hon. Daines Barrington.
TITLES and TIMINGS.
1. Letter XXll ‘Birds (General Observations & Crops.)’: 5 Min’s 22 secs.
2. Letter XXlll ‘A Shower of Cobwebs.’: 6 Min’s 21 secs.
3. Letter XXlV ‘Sociality in the Brute Creation.’: 3 Min’s 46 secs.
4. Letter XXV ‘Gypsies.’: 3 Min’s 29 secs.
5. Letter XXVl ‘Rushlights.’: 7 Min’s 13 secs.
6. Letter XXVll ‘The Bee Boy.’: 3 Min’s 15 secs.
7. Letter XXVlll ‘Superstitions.’: 5 Min’s 29 secs.
8. Letter XXlX ‘Trees & Moisture.’: 7 Min’s 06 secs.
9. Letter XXX ‘Birds (General, Including Incubation.)’: 4 Min’s 27 secs.
10. Letter XXXl ‘Self Defence (Includes Vipers.)’: 2 Min’s 26 secs.
11. Letter XXXll ‘Castration.’: 2 Min’s 09 secs.
12. Letter XXXlll ‘Hogs.’: 2 Min’s 15 secs.
13. Letter XXXlV ‘Maternal Feelings.’: 3 Min’s 36 secs.

Letters to The Hon. Daines Barrington.
TITLES and TIMINGS.
1. Letter XXXV ‘Land (Includes Worms & Slugs.)’: 3 Min’s 45 secs.
2. Letter XXXVl ‘Temperature Change.’: 4 Min’s 27 secs.
3. Letter XXXVll ‘The Leprosy / Vegetables.’: 9 Min’s 33 secs.
4. Letter XXXVlll ‘Echoes.’: 13 Min’s 40 secs.
5. Letter XXXlX ‘Swifts, Swallows, House Martins.’: 2 Min’s 38 secs.
6. Letter XL ‘Botany.’: 4 Min’s 27 secs.
7. Letter XLl ‘More Rare Plants.’: 8 Min’s 32 secs.
8. Letter XLll ‘The Manner of Birds.’: 6 Min’s 21 secs.
9. Letter XLlll ‘The Language of Birds.’: 8 Min’s 57 secs.
10. Letter XLlV ‘Heliotropes.’: 3 Min’s 30 secs.

Letters to The Hon. Daines Barrington.
TITLES and TIMINGS.
1. Letter XLV ‘Cliffs.’: 8 Min’s 12 secs.
2. Letter XLVl ‘The Field Cricket.’: 7 Min’s 18 secs.
3. Letter XLVll ‘The House Cricket.’: 4 Min’s 39 secs.
4. Letter XLVlll ‘The Mole Cricket.’: 4 Min’s 22 secs.
5. Letter XLlX ‘Birds (General, Size & Weight.)’: 5 Min’s 35 secs.
6. Letter L ‘The Tortoise.’: 6 Min’s 13 secs.
7. Letter Ll ‘Swallows / Martins (Arrivals, Departures.)’: 1 Min 51 secs.
8. Letter Lll ‘Swifts.’: 2 Min’s 51 secs.
9. Letter Llll ‘Insects / Infestations.’: 7 Min’s 21 secs.
10. Letter LlV ‘Gold & Silver Fishes.’: 5 Min’s 25 secs.
11. Letter LV ‘Martins.’: 4 Min’s 27 secs.
12. Letter LVl ‘Nests & The Music of Birds.’: 6 Min’s 12 secs.

Letters to The Hon. Daines Barrington.
TITLES and TIMINGS.
1. Letter LVll ‘Birds (Food & Colouring.)’: 5 Min’s 03 secs.
2. Letter LVlll ‘Dogs.’: 5 Min’s 25 secs.
3. Letter LlX ‘Evening Birds.’: 3 Min’s 36 secs.
4. Letter LX ‘Barometers.’: 6 Min’s 07 secs.
5. Letter LXl ‘Frost.’: 9 Min’s 10 secs.
6. Letter LXll ‘A Severe Frost.’: 9 Min’s 44 secs.
7. Letter LXlll ‘More of Frost.’: 6 Min’s 41 secs.
8. Letter LXlV ‘The Effects of Heat.’: 4 Min’s 42 secs.
9. Letter LXV ‘Severe Heat.’: 2 Min’s 53 secs.
10. Letter LXVl ‘Thunder Storms.’: 5 Min’s 48 secs.


The narrator, James Taylor, has more than 40 years experience as a professional actor. His diversity ranges from Theatre in London’s West End, numerous television appearances and the voice of Rune Haako in Star Wars (The Phantom Menace). Even so, James regards ‘Selborne’ as one of his most rewarding challenges. He insisted on studying Richard Mabey's biography of Gilbert White before producing a truly compelling performance.

With the kind assistance of Julian Reynolds, Head of Biology, Trinity College, Dublin, this recording also includes Latin translations of everything noted by White in his incredible and meticulous observations.

'Selborne' is a unique listening experience. 200 years after it was first published it still reveals "The secret parish in all of us."

N.B While working closely with Julian Reynolds, Head of Biology at Trinity College, Dublin, we were as meticulous in our Latin translations as it is ever possible to be with such a flexible language. This, coupled with the fact that White wrote the book more than 200 years ago will lead to some inconsistencies. For example, Julian was adamant that the modern day pronunciation of “Hirundines” is a change that has taken place over two centuries and, in his wisdom (who am I to argue?) opted for the pronunciation that appears throughout the reading. Enjoy! John Mayfield Producer of ‘The Natural History of Selborne.’

Visit www.gilbertwhiteselborne.com