Manuscripts

[Purple flower, possibly gentian]

Description: With two insects.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1756-1767.
Call number: mssHM 84100
Creator: Macclesfield, Mary Parker (approximately 1726-1812)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased for the Huntington from Maggs Bros. Ltd., by the Library Collectors' Council, March 2022. The botanical album has been held in the library at Shirburn Castle since it was created; it was lastly owned by the 9th Earl of Macclesfield.
Restrictions: RESTRICTED. Available with curatorial approval. Requires extended retrieval and delivery time. Please view digital surrogate.
Rights: The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining permission rests with the researcher.

[Purple osteospermum?]

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

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