Edward Lear, Study of an Indigo Macaw, now known as Lear’s Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari), watercolour on paper (Houghton Library, MS Typ 55.9 (22)).
Meetings and Events 2012
Saturday 31 March
Powell-Cotton Museum at Quex Park
Birchington, near Margate, Kent
For more information on booking for this, costs and access please contact the Meetings Secretary. For information on their collections see www.quexmuseum.org/Museum.aspx.
Saturday 19 May
Spring Meeting and AGM. The natural history of the Terra Nova expedition.
Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge
The Terra Nova Expedition (1910-12), officially the British Antarctic Expedition 1910, was led by Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912) with the aim of being the first to reach the South Pole, a tragic journey that ended on 29th March, 1912. In addition to the polar attempt, the expedition carried out a comprehensive scientific programme and the Terra Nova was fully fitted out for scientific research in polar regions. The scientific crew included meteorologists, hydrologists, zoologists, glacialogists, biologists and geologists.
The programme is under development. If you would like to contribute to the meeting, please contact Gina Douglas, SHNH Meetings Secretary at meetings(at)shnh.org.uk.
Thursday 27 September
The remarkable nature of Edward Lear
18.00 Linnean Society of London, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BF
“The Remarkable Nature of Edward Lear" will be an illustrated lecture on the natural history paintings of one of England's most accomplished and beloved artists by Robert McCracken Peck, Senior Fellow of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and curator of "The Natural History Paintings of Edward Lear," Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Natural History of Edward Lear, Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
2 – 18 August 2012
Although he is best remembered today as a whimsical nonsense poet, adventurous traveller, and painter of luminous landscapes, Edward Lear is revered in scientific circles as one of the greatest natural history painters of all time. During his brief immersion in the world of science, he created a body of work that continues to inform, delight, and astonish us with its remarkable blend of scientific rigor and artistic finesse.
Thanks to the generosity of two discerning Harvard benefactors, Philip Hofer and William B. Osgood Field, the Houghton Library holds the largest and most complete collection of Edward Lear’s original paintings in the world. Among the thousands of items in this collection are some two hundred sketches, studies, and finished paintings devoted to natural history. This exhibition, commemorating the bicentennial of Lear’s birth, is the first devoted to this important aspect of his career. The exhibition is being curated by Robert McCracken Peck, Senior Fellow at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (Drexel University).
Image: Edward Lear, Study of an Indigo Macaw, now known as Lear’s Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari), watercolour on paper (Houghton Library, MS Typ 55.9 (22)).
4-9 November
Mark Catesby's third centennial in America - celebrating his impact on our world.
Richmond, Virginia; Washington DC; and Charleston, South Carolina, USA
In 1712, Mark Catesby (1683-1749), a 29-year old Englishman with an enigmatic past and an insatiable curiosity for the wondrous serendipity of nature, set sail on a three-month voyage to the colony of Virginia [the Lowcountry of South Carolina]. Much of his sojourn in the New World was taken under the auspices of the Royal Society of London. Catesby was to spend much of the next fourteen years exploring the natural habitat of the southeast colonies and the Bahamas, and the subsequent 20 years writing and illustrating his two-volume Natural History of Carolina, Florida and The Bahama Islands.
This celebration is being organized by the Catesby Commemorative Trust - you can view their website at www.catesbytrust.org for general background, with SHNH as a co-sponsor. Others involved include the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, US Botanic Garden, Wilton House Museum in Richmond, College of Charleston, Gibbes Museum, Charleston Library Society, Middleton Place Foundation and the Preservation Society of Charleston.
The program will include a broad array of speakers on diverse subjects with a connection to Mark Catesby as well as related art exhibits, colonial-era garden tours, and expeditions into areas of South Carolina little changed since Catesby was there. Among the speakers who have agreed to participate are several who have been active in our Society and its affairs , including Judith Magee at the Natural History Museum; Amy Meyers at the Yale Center for British Art; Leslie Overstreet at the Smithsonian; Florence Pieters at the University of Amsterdam, Henrietta McBurney Ryan at Eton College; and James Reveal at Cornell.
More information will be provided on the SHNH website as details are confirmed.