Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
This page contains the latest information on Hunt Institute's activities, exhibitions and publications. Please bookmark this page and visit often.
Recent Activities
Digital copies of selected books accessible from our Library page
We are beginning to put digital copies online of selected published works from our Library that are unique, rare, unusual, or otherwise special. As of May 2008, several digitized books have been added to our Library Web pages.
One of these was produced by Bohemian botanists Friedrich Berchtold (1781–1876) and Jan Svatopluk Presl (1791–1849), O Prirozenosti Rostlin aneb Rostlinár…(Prague, Jos. Krause, 1823–1835). Our copy lacks the text of volume three of this relatively rare botanical work, but the rest of the text is accessible here, along with all of the plates and four part-wrappers.
Also available on our site is a digital copy of a work by John Ellis (1710?–1776), Directions for Bringing over Seeds and Plants (London, Printed and sold by L. Davis, 1770), along with his A Botanical Description of the Dionoea muscipula, published in the same volume. In Directions, Ellis discussed techniques for transporting plants and seeds from afar by ship so that they would more likely survive to be grown in a new location. He included a catalogue of exotic plants that might be successfully and usefully grown in the American colonies. The accompanying Venus flytrap description is one he had earlier sent to Carolus Linnaeus.
An unusual Chinese manuscript herbal in our library can now be viewed online. This herbal dates from ca.1800 and was purchased by Rachel Hunt in 1939. The unknown person who added English text to all of the 814 entries written in Chinese also supplied an informal title and description in English: “Account of 814 plants & insects, most of which are reckoned medicinal by the chinese; the representations generally show when the plant itself, or its root, flower, or fruit, is to be used; in reading their names, the vowels a, e, i, are most commonly to be pronounced after the french manner; the book is bound after the chinese manner, and begins where ours end.”
And for an unsurpassable visual treat, please look at Livre de Fleurs … (Paris, Joan le Clerc, 1620), by the French artist and engraver François L’Anglois (1589–1647). These 17th-century plates depict garden flowers such as irises and tulips along with songbirds and insects. Elaborately curled banners display pre-Linnaean Latin names.
Ehret images added to Art database
The Georg Dionys Ehret Collection contains 227 gouache paintings and 10 engravings and etchings. Six of our Ehret paintings were published—five in Christoph Jacob Trew and Ehret, Plantae Selectae (Nuremburg, 1750–1773), and one in Aylmer Bourke Lambert (1761–1842), A Description of the Genus Pinus (London, 1803–1824, vol. 1). For quick access to the images in this collection, see the Art Collections page on the graphics site, which features search results for each of the Art Department collections for which images have been added to the database.
Open House 2008
We've set the date for Open House 2008. It will be 22–23 June. Mark your calendars. The schedule is available on our graphics site's Open House page. We hope to see you.
Donating to the Hunt Institute
Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt’s botanical collections of books, art, manuscripts, and portraits are known for their depth and fine quality, reflecting her enthusiasm and expertise in plants, gardens, books, and history. She was determined that her collections be “living” resources—not only preserved but also curated actively and used productively in the service of science and scholarship. To those ends, we continue to develop and enhance the collections at Hunt Institute, working to make them accessible and to preserve them for the future. We have an international audience and a small but growing group of interested donors. You can help to strengthen our collections and programs through monetary and/or material gifts.
Donor Recognition
We gratefully recognize donations in a variety of ways, such as with a letter of thanks, mention in our Bulletin and on our Web site, and through the use of donor bookplates. Of course, donors who wish to remain anonymous could be listed as such or may decline any official mention.
Monetary and Material Gifts
Monetary donations to Hunt Institute are tax deductible. Monetary gifts may be applied to our general operating fund or to the endowment generously established by the Roy A. Hunt Foundation to provide ongoing support for Hunt Institute. In addition to building the collections, gifts can be used for archival storage supplies, conservation and repair of collection material, digitizing and databasing projects, and production of publications. If you would like to expedite a current project or enable us to begin one, please let us know; special project support is always welcome. Or consider giving to one of the following funds:
Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden Art Acquisition Fund
This fund is named in honor of the late artist Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden (1907–2007). A 1930 graduate of Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), Anne Ophelia is considered America’s leading botanical artist of the past century. After working as a teacher and a textile designer, Anne Ophelia turned her attention to botanical illustration in the 1950s, embarking on another career. She worked from specimens to achieve correct and exacting details in her artworks and with botanists to ensure accuracy. Fascinated by the natural world and its connections, especially pollination, she wanted to educate, interest and engage the public about plants. To this end, she illustrated nine books and wrote and illustrated eleven for which she also did the design, layout and the publication preparation herself decades before desktop publishing. Her passion for botanical art, science and education made her so special and inspired a generation of artists. She also maintained numerous contacts with botanists, artists, and botanical gardens, and whenever she spotted new artistic talent, she made recommendations to the Hunt Institute.
The naming of this acquisition fund after Anne Ophelia is a fitting tribute to her legacy. Our restricted budget hampers the acquisition of works by artists, particularly those new to our series of International Exhibitions. Unlike funds in our regular budget, which are contingent on the fiscal year, monies in the Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden Art Acquisition Fund will remain available until needed. The purchase of artworks from this fund will enable us to support and recognize artists working in the genre of botanical art.
Our collection includes Anne Ophelia’s bequest of over 450 artworks from which we have organized several exhibitions and travel shows. In donating her artworks to the Institute, Anne Ophelia wanted them to be preserved, but she also wanted them to be accessible for study by botanical artists. This fund will allow us to preserve artworks by the current generation of botanical artists and make them available for study by the next.
Individuals, as well as botanical art societies and other organizations, may find this fund an attractive way to support the Hunt Institute. We are very pleased to thank Lotte H. Blaustein and the American Society of Botanical Artists for the first donations to this fund. For further information write James J. White, Curator of Art, Hunt Institute.
Ronald L. Stuckey Endowment for the Preservation of Botanical History
In 2003 Dr. Ronald L. Stuckey, professor emeritus of botany at The Ohio State University, established the Ronald L. Stuckey Endowment for the Preservation of Botanical History at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. This fund will help us to acquire and preserve photographs, biographical sketches, and obituaries of botanists, as well as books on botanical history and bibliography. We are grateful for Dr. Stuckey’s long-time interest in Hunt Institute, its collections and its mission. We welcome additional contributions to this fund from others who share our commitment to the preservation of botanical history.
Material gifts of artworks, books, papers, etc., are greatly appreciated. For more information about the types of material gifts that we are able to accept, please see the Archives, Art, Bibliography, and Library pages on the graphics site. Material not suitable for the collections will be returned promptly to the donor, or the donor can choose for the Institute to sell the items to raise funds, to offer them to another library, or (for published materials) to include them in the Institute’s duplicate sales.
We are happy to provide a letter of acknowledgment and a list of the material received, along with short descriptions if needed, but we are not permitted by the IRS, nor are we sufficiently knowledgeable, to make appraisals on items donated to us. If you have retained the purchase receipts connected with your gift(s), these might serve your tax purposes in lieu of an appraisal.
Memorial Gifts
Memorial gifts are also welcome. For example, books purchased through your contribution can be marked with a donor bookplate upon request, acknowledging your gift in memory of or on behalf of someone.
Other Types of Contributions
There are other ways that you can help. Take our biographical record forms to distribute at scientific or botanical art meetings to help swell our biographical files. If you see botanical biographies and obituaries, drop a note to our Archivist about them. Send us notices about botanists that appear in newspapers, magazines and other regional or non-botanical publications. If you know of a group that will be meeting in or visiting Pittsburgh, suggest that they contact us about a group visit to Hunt Institute.
Please don’t hesitate to confer with us about any proposed gift, including its use and acknowledgment. We appreciate your involvement, and we thank you for your interest.
Archives Collection List
On the graphics site, finding aids for individual collections have been linked from the Archives Collection List for Michel Adanson (1727–1806), Paul Hamilton Allen (1911–1963), an Anonymous collector of Narcissus, William Andrew Archer (1894–1973), Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858–1954), Peter René Oscar Bally (1895–1980), Rudolph Beer (1873–1940), Bernard Boivin (1916–1985), Botanical Garden of Padua, Botanical Society of America—Pacific Section, Adolphe Théodore Brongniart (1801–1876), Joachim Camerer (1534–1598), Harold Trevor Clifford (1927–), 11th International Botanical Congress (Seattle, 1969), David Grandison Fairchild (1869–1954), Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Aerzte, Edward Lee Greene (843–1915), Frederick Joseph Hermann (1906–1987), Hunt Botanical Library, John Hutchinson (1884–1972), Hugo Iltis (1882–1952), Nicolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727–1817), Jean Francois De Galaup (Comte) de La Perouse (1741–1788), George Hill Mathewson Lawrence (1910–1978), John Bernhard Leiberg (1853–1913), Willem Daniel Margadant (1916–1997), Mildred Esther Mathias (1906–1995), Franz Carl Mertens (1764–1831), Philip Miller (1691–1771), Benjamin Yoe Morrison (1891–1966), Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (1761–1836), David Prain (1857–1944), Joseph Rock (1884–1962), Velva Rudd (1910–1999), Norman Hudson Russell (1921–), William Edwin Safford (1859–1926), and Charles Swingle (1899–1978). More finding aids will be added soon. PDFs of thumbnails of individual and group portraits and biographical citations for many of the above subjects have been added to the individual collection pages.
Edward Donovan: Naturalist Artist, Author and Collector
27 March to 29 June 2008
The Hunt Institute will exhibit selections from its large collection of botanical watercolors by the early 19th–century British naturalist Edward Donovan. Created in the period 1823–1830, they depict exotic plants introduced to the British Isles. Along with these watercolors, we will display a selection of Donovan’s books lent by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History Library.
Edward Donovan (1768–1837), as were many cultured gentlemen of his day, was a collector of natural history specimens—from personal excursions in the British Isles as well as purchases from notable natural history auctions that included items from voyages of exploration. With the connections he made as a Fellow of the Linnean Society and the Wernerian Natural History Society, he also was able to access the best collections. Donovan referenced all of these sources for his books about the insects, shells, fishes and quadrupeds of England and the insects of China, India and New Holland between 1789 and 1827. He not only wrote and illustrated these books but also prepared the copper plates. It was not uncommon for private collectors to open small public museums of exotica, and in 1807 Donovan founded the London Museum and Institute of Natural History that included several hundred cases of birds, botanical specimens and other subjects. Donovan’s voracious appetite for collecting, his unfortunate experiences with unscrupulous book publishers, and the economic decline in England after the Napoleonic Wars most likely forced the closure of the museum in 1817 and the auction of his collection the following year. He continued to publish, but his finances worsened, and in 1833 he published a plea for funds from his supporters to bring suit against the publishers. This was to no avail, and he died penuriously in 1837 leaving a large family destitute.
Exotic plants were featured in Donovan’s early and short-lived series Botanical Review, or the Beauties of Flora (London, 1789–90) and occasionally accompanied the natural history subjects in his later publications. The botanical watercolors in our collection were created much later (1823–1830) and leave a trail of mysteries. We only know that the 709 watercolors that were tipped into 5 albums with spines stamped “Edward Donovan/Flower Paintings” were part of Rachel Hunt’s original collection, but we have no date or source of acquisition. Many names appear on the artworks, some associated with plant collectors, botanical gardens or private collections. Geographic localities are noted indicating the origin and date of introduction from places such as Chile, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Nepal, Siberia and the eastern United States. Also included in this collection of watercolors is a small selection by anonymous artists (many with only a monogram, except for E. Duncombe). Even after Donovan’s collections were auctioned, he would have had access to exotic plants grown in the greenhouses and gardens of private plant collectors and public botanical gardens. Perhaps he was preparing a new subscription series on exotic plants. Despite the many questions that persist about the history of this collection, these beautiful paintings are significant for their documentation of newly introduced plants in the early 19th century.
In conjunction with Edward Donovan: Naturalist Artist, Author and Collector, the Hunt Institute will hold its annual Open House on 22–23 June 2008. We will offer talks about the context in which Donovan worked, a guided gallery tour of the exhibition by our assistant curator of art, tours of our departments and reading room, and opportunities to meet one-on-one with our staff to ask questions and see items in the collections. We encourage everyone to consider visiting us during this Open House. It will be a good time to see the new exhibition and an opportunity to have an inside look at our collections and our work. A schedule of events will be available soon on our Web site. We are looking forward to your visit.
The exhibition will be on display on the fifth floor of the Hunt Library building at Carnegie Mellon University. Hours: Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–noon and 1–5 p.m.; Sunday, 1–4 p.m. (except 18 and 25–26 May). The exhibition is open to the public free of charge. For further information, contact the Hunt Institute at 412-268-2434.
International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration
6 June–20 July 2008
Fellows Riverside Gardens
Mill Creek MetroParks
123 McKinley Avenue
Youngstown, OH 44509
330-740-7116
Please contact the hosting institution to confirm the booking dates and to receive more information. To schedule an exhibition, please contact the Assistant Curator of Art at lbruno@andrew.cmu.edu.
13(2) Huntia
Contents: M. E. Mitchell, "Signposts to symbiosis: A review of early attempts to establish the constitution of lichens"; Arno Wörz, "The 'Botanische Reiseverein'—A 19th-century joint stock company for the collecting of herbarium specimens"; E. Charles Nelson and W. H. King, "James Lothian (1817–1871) and his book Practical Hints on the Culture and General Management of Alpine or Rock Plants"; Book Reviews and Announcements.20(1) Bulletin of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
Contents: "In Memoriam: Gavin D. R. Bridson"; "Current and upcoming exhibits: Edward Donovan"; "Delectus Huntiana 44: Gift of Schkuhr's Botanisches Handbuch includes 5 originals"; "News from the Library"; "News from the Archives"; "Open House: 22 and 23 June 2008."
For a list of our publications, see Publications and Posters.
Hunt Institute Text Only Footer
GENERAL INFORMATION
About the Institute
Associate Membership
Contact Us
Frequently Asked Questions
News and Events
Publications
Staff
DEPARTMENTS and COLLECTIONS
Departments
Departments Services and Charges
History of Collections
Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Special Collections
AWARD
Lawrence Memorial Award
Text-Only Site Guide - Full Graphics Pages
URL for this page: huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu /HIBD/HIBD-T/News-T.shtml
© 2008 Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation.
All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions.