In Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" one historical
figure wanted to eat one of every species of animal. Who was this
person?

Dear lit_fan-ga,
It was the Reverend William Buckland.

The reference appears on page 69 of the paperback. You can read it on
amazon.com using their ?search inside feature? and the search terms
?eat his way through every animal in creation?.

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076790818X/002-5929683-5117615?v=glance&n=283155&camp=2025&dev-t=D26XECQVNV6NDQ&link%5Fcode=xm2

Vast chunks of the book has been placed on this forum .
You will find it under this posting at 31-08-2005, 13:59:21 
http://forum.burek.co.yu/index.php/topic,47500.20.html

This is a biography of William Buckland.
http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/geocolls/buckland/buckbio.htm

I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder

Search strategy
Searched for the book on a9.com (amazon.com search engine)
http://a9.com/%22A%20Short%20History%20of%20Nearly%20Everything%22

Very quick and accurate response. Just was I was hoping for.

Dear lit_fan-ga,
Thank you for the tip. Pleased I could help.
answerfinder-ga