Availability
Curiosity and travel: Mark Catesby's Natural History
Saturday 17th May, 13:30
Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York Square, King's Rd, London SW3 4RYThis talk will introduce the naturalist Mark Catesby (1683-1749) and his work, focusing on the making of his Natural History of the Carolinas, Flora and the Bahamas (1729-1747). The talk will be given by Professor Stephen Harris, Druce Curator of the Oxford University Herbaria.
Mark Catesby travelled in the southern states of America and the Bahamas in the early-1720s. An exceptional observer, he recorded what he saw as illustrations, and collected dried plant specimens and seeds. On his return to London, the seeds Catesby collected became horticultural sensations in Georgian Britain, and remain familiar in our own gardens. The images Catesby drew and engraved are among the most distinctive in natural history illustration. The detailed observations he made about the plants and animals he saw continues to be relevant to modern biology.
The event is organised in conjuction with the Friends of the Bodleian Library, and will take place in the Talks Space on the top floor of the Saatchi Gallery.
Mark Catesby travelled in the southern states of America and the Bahamas in the early-1720s. An exceptional observer, he recorded what he saw as illustrations, and collected dried plant specimens and seeds. On his return to London, the seeds Catesby collected became horticultural sensations in Georgian Britain, and remain familiar in our own gardens. The images Catesby drew and engraved are among the most distinctive in natural history illustration. The detailed observations he made about the plants and animals he saw continues to be relevant to modern biology.
The event is organised in conjuction with the Friends of the Bodleian Library, and will take place in the Talks Space on the top floor of the Saatchi Gallery.