Artists in Edwards’s Botanical Register

Posted on December 25, 2020 by Historical SciArt

Edwards’s Botanical Register was a serial publication consisting of 19 volumes, plus an appendix, that ran from 1829-1847 and was edited by John Lindley (1799–1865). This series was preceded by The Botanical Register, which was started and edited by Sydenham Teast Edwards (1768-1819) and ran from 1815-1828 for a total of 14 volumes.

Volumes 15 through 32 of Edwards’s Botanical Register have hundreds of beautiful illustrations that were printed from copper engravings; volume 33’s illustrations were produced from lithographs and hand-colored.

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Catesby’s Natural History

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Historical SciArt

Mark Catesby was an English naturalist, scientist, and scientific artist whose multi-volume series, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands was the first scientific work documenting the flora and fauna of North America. Volume 1 from the first edition was created over the period of 1729 to 1732, and this particular volume was digitized by Smithsonian Libraries for inclusion in Biodiversity Heritage Library. This volume covers many of the birds and plants that Catesby saw, including the now extinct Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) with a Swamp Cypress (Taxodium distichum) shown below.

Screen Shot 2018-01-12 at 7.51.45 PM — Carolina Parakeet with a Swamp Cypress

The header illustration features a Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea) with a Sweet Bay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana). Read more about digitizing Catesby’s remarkable works on Biodiversity Heritage Library’s blog, as well as another post about the taxonomy additions to BHL’s Flickr albums. I was able to add taxonomy to these images with the published research found in The Curious Mister Catesby (2015). You can also read about Catesby’s SciArt Methodology here.

Cécile Pfulb-Kastner

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Historical SciArt

Cecile Pfulb-Kastner.png

Cécile Pfulb-Kastner was a French botanical artist and lithographer who illustrated Volume 1 (1906) and Volume 2 (1908) of Nouvelle Flore Coloriée de Poche des Alpes et des Pyrénées by Charles Flahault (1852-1935).

Naming conventions for the 19th and 20th centuries often did not include the first names of French women in publications, but instead they were identified by their titles, Mademoiselle (Mlle) and Madame (Mme). Note the changes in Pfulb-Kastner’s name from Volume 1 to Volume 2. These naming conventions, along with the cultural taboo of women working during this time, make researching early women in science a challenge. Pfulb-Kastner is no exception, and so far, I have only found mention of her in bibliographies of the works mentioned above. For example, this entry is from Bibliographisches Bulletin der Schweizerischen Landes-Bibliothek, Volume 8 (1908).

Screen Shot 2017-03-12 at 9.22.43 PM

Google Books is a great resource for full text searching of out-of-copyright works that they have digitized. Another search under her married name came up with her listed as a member of the National Horticulture Society of France as of January 1, 1909. Screen Shot 2017-03-12 at 9.26.45 PM.png

Based on the key, she is listed as an “Officier d’Académie” and a “dessinateur-lithographie pour la botanique”, which is roughly translated as an Academy Officer and botanical lithographer.

Explore Cécile Pfulb-Kastner’s botanical art in the Flicker account and catalogue of Biodiversity Heritage Library.