The Life of the Spider
The Life of the Spider gathers the essays on spiders by the French naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre, translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos in 1912. Fabre observed his subjects for years in the stony fields and garden of his home in Provence, and he writes about them with patience and humor. Here are the Narbonne lycosa, a wolf spider whose burrow, family and climbing instinct he studies in turn, the banded epeira, the crab spider, the labyrinth spider and the clotho, and the garden spiders whose web-building, sticky snares, telegraph line, courtship and hunting he describes in detail. An appendix examines the geometry of the web. The full text is available to read online in your browser on Vinteuil, and the first chapter is free.
Start reading right away, without signing up. The complete text is included in Vinteuil Reading, or yours forever with a one-time purchase.
Frequently asked questions about The Life of the Spider
The Life of the Spider by Jean-Henri Fabre can be read online on Vinteuil, directly in your browser. The first chapter is free for everyone; the complete book is included in Vinteuil Reading ($4.99/month or $39.99/year) or yours forever for $2.99.
Can I read The Life of the Spider online?
Yes. The Life of the Spider opens right on this page, in a reader designed for long reading: adjustable text size, light, sepia and dark themes, a clickable table of contents and your place saved when you are signed in. No download or app is needed.
Is The Life of the Spider free to read on Vinteuil?
The first chapter of The Life of the Spider is free, without an account. To read the whole book, either buy its online reading for $2.99 (£2.99 in the UK) and keep it forever, or subscribe to Vinteuil Reading for $4.99/month (£4.99/month in the UK) or $39.99/year, with 1 month free for new subscribers. The subscription opens every book in the library and can be cancelled at any time.
Is The Life of the Spider in the public domain?
Yes. The Life of the Spider by Jean-Henri Fabre is a public-domain work, here in the translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. Vinteuil offers a carefully prepared digital edition made for comfortable reading on screen.
How long does it take to read The Life of the Spider?
About 4 h 42 min of reading, at an average reading pace. Your place is saved automatically when you are signed in, so you can read in several sittings and on several devices.
What kind of book is The Life of the Spider?
The Life of the Spider by Jean-Henri Fabre is filed under "Classics" in the Vinteuil library.
