Title: The curious Mister Catesby : a "truly ingenious" naturalist explores new worlds /
Authors: Laird, Mark,; Nelson, E. Charles,; Elliott, David J. 1935-; Nelson, E. Charles.; Elliott, David J. 1935-; Catesby Commemorative Trust,
Year: 2015
Subjects: Catesby, Mark,; Catesby, Mark, Influence.; Catesby, Mark,; Natural history illustration History; Natural history Southern States Pictorial works.; Natural history North America Pictorial works.; Naturalists Southern States Biography.; Natural history illustration Southern States Biography.
Abstract: "In 1712, English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683–1749) crossed the Atlantic to Virginia. After a seven-year stay, he returned to England with paintings of plants and animals he had studied. They sufficiently impressed other naturalists that in 1722 several Fellows of the Royal Society sponsored his return to North America. There Catesby cataloged the flora and fauna of the Carolinas and the Bahamas by gathering seeds and specimens, compiling notes, and making watercolor sketches. Upon his return to England five years later, he began the twenty-year task of writing, etching, and publishing his monumental The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. Mark Catesby was a man of exceptional courage and determination combined with insatiable curiosity and multiple talents. Nevertheless no portrait of him is known. The international contributors to this volume review Catesby’s biography alongside the historical and scientific significance of his work. Ultimately, this lavishly illustrated volume advances knowledge of Catesby’s explorations, collections, artwork, and publications in order to reassess his importance within the pantheon of early naturalists"--
Contents: "The truly honest, ingenious, and modest Mr. Mark Catesby, F.R.S." : documenting his life (1682/83-1749) / E. Charles Nelson -- Behind the scenes : Catesby the man, viewed through the lens of a camera / Cynthia P. Neal -- Mark Catesby's botanical forerunners in Virginia / Karen Reeds -- Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) : pioneering naturalist, artist, and inspiration for Catesby / Kay Etheridge and Florence F.J.M. Pieters -- William Dampier (1651-1715) : the pirate of exquisite mind / Diana Preston and Michael Preston -- John Lawson's A new voyage to Carolina and his "Compleat history" : the Mark Catesby connection / Marcus B. Simpson Jr. -- Mark Catesby's world : England / Janet Browne -- Mark Catesby's world : Virginia / Sarah Hand Meacham -- Mark Catesby's Carolina adventure / Suzanne Linder Hurley -- Mark Catesby's Bahamian natural history (observed in 1725-1726) / Robert Robertson -- Mark Catesby's preparatory drawings for The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama islands / Henrietta McBurney -- The publication of Mark Catesby's The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama islands / Leslie K. Overstreet -- The plant collections of Mark Catesby in Oxford / Stephen A. Harris -- Carl Linnaeus and the influence of Mark Catesby's botanical work / C.E. Jarvis -- The economic botany and ethnobotany of Mark Catesby / W. Hardy Eshhaugh -- "Of birds of passage" : Mark Catesby and contemporary theories on bird migration and torpor / Shepard Krech III -- Catesby's animals (other than birds) in The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama islands / Aaron M. Bauer -- Catesby's fundamental contributions to Linnaeus's binomial catalog of North American animals / Kraig Adler -- Mark Catesby's plant introductions and English gardens of the eighteenth century / Mark Laird -- Following in the footsteps of Mark Catesby / Judith Magee --