Description

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The life and art of the 18th-century naturalist Mark Catesby, and his pioneering work depicting the flora and fauna of North America, are explored in vibrant detail

This book explores the life and work of the celebrated eighteenth-century English naturalist, explorer, artist and author Mark Catesby (1683–1749). During Catesby’s lifetime, science was poised to shift from a world of amateur virtuosi to one of professional experts. Working against a backdrop of global travel that incorporated collecting and direct observation of nature, Catesby spent two prolonged periods in the New World – in Virginia (1712–19) and South Carolina and the Bahamas (1722–6). In his majestic two-volume Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (1731–43), esteemed by his contemporary John Bartram as ‘an ornament for the finest library in the world’, he reflected the excitement, drama and beauty of the natural world. Interweaving elements of art history, history of science, natural history illustration, painting materials, book history, paper studies, garden history and colonial history, this meticulously researched volume brings together a wealth of unpublished images as well as newly discovered letters by Catesby, which, with their first-hand accounts of his collecting and encounters in the wild, bring the story of this extraordinary pioneer naturalist vividly to life.

Distributed for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

About the Author

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Henrietta McBurney is a freelance curator and art historian. She was previously curator in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle. Her publications include studies on the florilegium of Alexander Marshal and the natural history drawings for Cassiano dal Pozzo’s Paper Museum.

Praise For…

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“In the early eighteenth century, Mark Catesby, an amateur naturalist from East Anglia, vividly documented the flora and fauna of America from the tiniest ‘tumble-turd’ beetle to the flowering umbrella tree. His watercolours, beautifully reproduced (often in full-size plates) speak of an early modern world in which distinctions between amateur and professional, art and science were decidedly blurry.”—Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Times, “Books of the Year: Art”

“[The] definitive study of Catesby’s life and art. . . . Gorgeous. . . . Accessible. . . . Ms. McBurney’s book perfectly matches its multifaceted subject, offering us nothing less than a natural history of Catesby’s remarkable imagination.”—Christoph Irmscher, Wall Street Journal

“McBurney has not only created a comprehensive scholarly resource and a fascinating history, but also a source of inspiration for artists and budding artists.”—Charlotte A. Tancin, Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries Newsletter

The SHNH Natural History Book Prize (John Thackray Medal) is awarded for the best book published on the history or bibliography of natural history in the preceding two years.