Edward Posnett

In this beguiling work Posnett journeys to some of the most far-flung locales on the planet to bring seven wonders of the natural world--eiderdown, vicu-a fiber, sea silk, vegetable ivory, civet coffee, guano, and edible birds' nests--that promise ways of using nature without damaging it.out damaging it.

The Hidden Histories of Seven Natural Objects

Strange Harvests

Sieben kleine Naturwunder und ihre Geschichten

Die Kunst der Ernte

Over the centuries eiderdown has been coveted by the Vikings, Russian tsars and medieval tax collectors who accepted it as revenue. The plumage of a fat sea duck, eiderdown – treasured for its extraordinary lightness and insulation – now joins cocaine as an instrument of globalisation and commodity of the super-rich. In this revelatory essay, Edward Posnett travels to the Westfjords region of Iceland to explore the fragile relationship between Icelanders and the duck. Eiderdown harvesting began with the arrival of Norse settlers in the 9th century, and it is now stuffed into pillows, duvets and clothing which sell for thousands of pounds in Japan, China, Germany and Russia. What might at first appear an idyllic pastime becomes a story of compromise and exploitation. Posnett’s finely spun prose and his fascinating encounters open up this seldom seen trade, one which hangs in the balance.

Eiderdown

‘An exceptional first book; Harvest is a subtle, fascinating braiding of travel, cultural and natural history ... It is a pleasure and an education to journey with him in these pages’ Robert Macfarlane In a centuries-old tradition, farmers in northwestern Iceland scour remote coastal plains for the down of nesting eider ducks. High inside a vast cave in Borneo, men perched atop rickety ladders collect swiftlets’ nests, a delicacy believed to be a cure for almost anything. Eiderdown and edible birds’ nests: both are luxury products, ultimately destined for the super-rich. To the rest of the world these materials are mere commodities but to the harvesters they are all imbued with myth, tradition, folklore and ritual, and form part of a shared identity and history. These objects are two of the seven natural wonders whose stories Harvest tells: eiderdown, vicuña wool, sea silk, vegetable ivory, civet coffee, guano and edible birds’ nests. Harvest follows their journey from the wildest parts of the planet, traversing Iceland, Indonesia, and Peru, to its urban centres, drawing on the voices of the gatherers, shearers and entrepreneurs who harvest, process and trade them. Blending interviews, history and travel writing, Harvest sets these human stories against our changing economic and ecological landscape. What do they tell us about capitalism, global market forces and overharvesting? How does a local micro-economy survive in a hyper-connected world? Harvest makes us see the world with wonder, curiosity and new concern. It is an original and magical new map of our world and its riches.

Edward Posnett

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