Mary Treat: A Biography

Novelist Barbara Kingsolver cast a fictionalized Mary Treat as a main character in her 2018 bestseller Unsheltered. Since then, many have sought to learn more about the 19th century naturalist whose studies coincided with those of Charles Darwin. With access to the Treat files at the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society, biographer Deborah Boerner Ein tells the story of Mary Treat, through these original papers: • Letters from her many correspondents—prominent botanists, entomologists, and other scientists—including letters from Darwin • Correspondence with editors and publishers • Letters from family and friends • Professional and personal documents • Treat’s own published works The biographer conducts in-depth research into the life of a little-known, self-taught woman scientist whose contributions to the field of environmental studies were unrecognized by most of the outside world for more than a century. Mary Treat’s story is finally brought to light in this book.