BHL Book Feature: Himalayan Plants
Join us this week for a virtual trek into the Himalayan Mountains as part of our celebration of Joseph Dalton Hooker’s 200th birthday.
J.D. Hooker created Illustrations of Himalayan Plants (1855) largely based on the contributions of his friend, James F. Cathcart, who was part of the British Civil Service in India. During his free time, Cathcart studied the biodiversity of India, particularly the plants from which he collected seeds to send home to his friends in exchange for books. He collected hundreds of specimens at varying elevations in the Himalayas, and he employed two artists to draw these plants. After his death, Cathcart had these illustrations presented to J.D. Hooker and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Describing Cathcart, J.D. Hooker wrote:
Cathcart was an ardent amateur, a man of a highly cultivated mind; naturally of a retiring disposition, he loved science for its own sake; and the hope that the fruits of his labours would benefit others as much as the prosecution of them gratified his tastes for what was curious and beautiful in nature, was the mainspring of his actions.
J.D. Hooker employed Walter Hood Fitch to redraw all of the plates using the original illustrations and research contributed by Cathcart, as well as J.D. Hooker’s research from similar areas.
Our featured illustration is the leaves and acorns of an Oak Tree (Quercus lamellosa). This week, we will be exploring the beautiful illustrations by Walter Hood Fitch for Joseph Dalton Hooker’s Illustrations of Himalayan Plants (1855), which was contributed for digitization by the Peter H. Raven Library of the Missouri Botanical Garden (@mobotgarden). Learn more about the #JDHooker2017 campaign on our blog, and explore all 24 plates in our Flickr album!
