The Washington times., 1926-07-24
MRS. WALCOTT'S
NEW VOLUME
ON PRESS
Wife Of Smithsonian Sec
rotary Spends Sum-
.mer in Town

MM keS. CHAELES ID. WALNUT
AVA wife Of the. Secretary OF the
Smithsonian Institution. is carry:
Ing on her preparation OF further
volumes OF North American Wild
Flowers despite the summer tenn.
perature in Washington. Every
Gay she is in her office at the
Smithsonian, which incidentally II
In striking contrast with her usual
way Of spending the torrid season.
This is the first summer for
many years that DR.. and Mrs.
Walcott have not gone on q camp.
ing trip in the Canadian Rockies
the former to make geological
studies and the latter to add to
her collection Of rare specimens
OF wild flowers. These jaunts have
LISTED from three to four months
and have been spent entirely In the
open. Outlines blazing new trails
up near the snow line. Travelling
was done on horseback and on
foot.
Hunting for wild Flowers
An . result of these camping ex.
petitions Mrs. Walcott obtained the
larger portion of her rich and
varied collection which II now being
given to the world. The first
volume was published last autumn
by the Smithsonian Institutions
de luxe edition-and the second
volume goes to the printers within
q week or two. There Is also being
published q library edition Of each
volume. which viii be put on sale
Ct $50.
THE plan Is to have the collection
published In five volumes. The de
luxe edition for the five volumes
has been made possible by the sub
Bcription OF those who are inter-
ested and who can afford 1t. TO
each of these subscribers viii 20 a
copy OF each volume az soon as 1t
il published. They have paid $500
that Is, 500 volume. But one
can subscribe for only the full num-
Der. Washington has perhaps the
largest list of donors, making this
work possible.
A feature Of the de luxe edition
is the autograph Of the author
Mary Vaux Walcott. This edition Is
larger than the library edition.
which costs $3.50. but otherwise
there il little difference, the ma
toriaI being just the same.
Each Volume Work Of Art
Each Of the volumes win contain
eighty plates. with one page Of
descriptive text for each. The de-
scriptions. in q semi-p0pular style,
nave been prepared by Mrs. Wal
colt with the assistance Of COM
petent botanists. Information Ia
given as TO the habitat. soil. eleva.
ton. and range OF each flower Dor.
trayed as well as additional data
Of interest regarding the pants.
There has been no expense In
CURED for the original paintings
nor for the preparation Of the
text, as ali OF this work has been
contributed by Mrs. Walcott and
the botanists assisting her. Many
Of the paintings were made under
the most trying circumstances, On
the trail In the Canadian Rockies
where every opportunity was taken
for skeching, in order to record
as many as possible of the Giving
flowers that skirt the eternal
frost" The illustrations OF east.
ern plants were made from speci-
mems collected by the author and
from those contributed by many
friends.
The paintings have been repro.
ducsd by a refined Photographic
process, using as many coIors and
prtntings as were necessary to Oh
tain accurate reproductions. The
method Of printing the plates, how.
ever, Ia unique; for they are printed
by a special process on an all-rag
paper, insuring an artistic appear
ance as well as permanence. The
specially made paper and the method
Of using it give the prints the
appearance of paintings, ana IL is
difficult at a short distance to dis
tinguish between the original and
the reproductions.
Collection Began Years Ago.
The collection of sketches was
begun many years ago, but no
especial value was put on them
until Mrs. Walcott came fr6Jn
Philadelphia IL years ago to make
her home in Washington.
When the number of sketches
reached about 400, and exhibits
were made in the Smithsonian In.
stitution both of the Western
flowers as we'll as those that were
obtained nearer Washington. many
requests came for loans from vari-
Gus cities in the United States. in
addition. to their being shown in
the Corcoran Gallery in Washing.
ton, the Art Institute in Chicago,
and the Anderson Galleries in New
York.
About this time the collection
was Offer ed to the Smithsonian for
purposes of reproduction, and after
careful investigation it was decided
that the Smithsonian Institution
would publish them when money
was available for the purpose, as
the institution had no publication
fund that could be used in this way.
To raise this necessary money
Mrs. Walcott did much of the inter.