Nature, Nation and Nostalgia: Narratives of Natural History in S panish and B ritish A merica (1750‐1800)

This article studies natural history narratives in the eighteenth‐century A tlantic world. Focusing on two key texts, J uan de V elasco's H istoria del R eyno de Q uito and H ector S t J ohn de C rèvecoeur's L etters from an A merican F armer , it examines the close relationship between natural knowledge and national identity. We consider some of the tensions that emerged between E uropean and A merican writers of natural history during this period and situate these narratives of natural history within a wider critique of travel‐writing and representations of the A mericas. We focus, in particular, on the textual devices employed to confer credibility on C reole natural histories.