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Manuscripts

"Hieracium [Hyraceum] medio nigrum"


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    "Rosa Silvestris, Austriaca flore Phœniceo. Park. Austrian Rose"

    Manuscripts

    With a large Cabbage-white butterfly.

    mssHM 84100

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    [Red and white primrose]

    Manuscripts

    With tortoiseshell butterfly.

    mssHM 84100

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    [Purple flower, possibly gentian]

    Manuscripts

    With two insects.

    mssHM 84100

  • Mary Parker, Countess of Macclesfield, botanical album, 1756-1767

    Mary Parker, Countess of Macclesfield, botanical album, 1756-1767

    Manuscripts

    A botanical album created by Mary Parker, Countess of Macclesfield; she started the album in 1756 when she was 30 years of age. Flower painting had become a fashionable occupation for the wives and daughters of the great houses of England and Mary Parker achieved exceptional ability under the tutelage of Georg Ehret. The album contains 48 watercolor and gouache paintings on parchment; depicted are both sides of the plant's leaves and also shown are more than one reproductive stage for each specimen: with the early formation of the blossom, the growing petals, and the full expression of the flower. The images in the album depict numerous plant specimens, sometimes with butterflies and other insects, most likely local to the Macclesfield estate, Shirburn Castle, in Oxfordshire. Many of the illustrations are identified by names predating Carl Linnaeus' binomial plant nomenclature in his "Species Plantarum" (1753), while other notations on the illustrations include Linnaeus' names. The album is bound in a contemporary, richly gilt morocco wallet binding, with interior green silk ties; the binding is likely by Richard Montagu. The pages in the album are marked with the Macclesfield armorial blind stamp. It has a lock and key fastening, and while the original key is present, the lock has been deactivated by a professional restorer, please do not attempt to use the key; also present is a red velvet bookmark.

    mssHM 84100

  • Image not available

    [Red matthiola incana(?)]

    Manuscripts

    A garden variety.

    mssHM 84100

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    [Pink fruit blossom?]

    Manuscripts

    Perhaps a peach, apricot, or cherry. Double-flowered; but possibly an herbaceous plant.

    mssHM 84100