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Creator:
Shapter, Mary Gibbs, 1842-1921
Title(s):

Notes on various trees, with leaf specimens.

Published/Created:
[Great Britain], 1879-1880.
Physical Description:
1 volume ; 18 x 11 cm
Holdings:
Rare Books and Manuscripts
DA625.S53 S43 1866a Flat
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
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Copyright Status:
Copyright Information
Classification:
Archives & Manuscripts
Notes:
Restricted fragile material. Use requires permission of the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts.
Mary Gibbs Shapter (1842-1921) was the daughter of John Shapter (1806-1887), Queen's Counsel and bencher of Lincoln's Inn, who lived at 7 Clarendon Place, Hyde Park Gardens. century.
The notebook is accompanied by five sketchbooks (1866-1900) by Mary Gibbs Shapter, which have been catalogued separately (DA625.S53 S43 1866 Flat).
Bound in contemporary polished red calf.
Of green leaf, bird, and flower: artists' books and the natural world, p. 136
Selected exhibitions: "'Of Green Leaf, Bird, and Flower': Artists' Books and the Natural World" (Yale Center for British Art, May 15 - August 10, 2014).
The notebook is doubled in girth by the insertion of additional sheets, often on headed notepaper ("7 Clarendon Place Hyde Park Gardens, W."), and approximately 75 leaf specimens, many mounted. Some specimens are labeled with a note on the specific tree from which they were collected, e.g.: "Ilex. Dropmore. August '79"; "Common Elm. This leaf is from the last tree of Windsor Forest Close to Canon Hill"; "The Weeping Wych Elm. Hyde Park"; "Wych Elm. Kidbrooke Park. May 1880." The notes give the English and Latin name, characteristics, information on woods, their use etc., with quotations from various printed sources. Notes are accompanied by drawings in pen and black ink.
Shapter's description of Platanus occidentalis (commonly known as the American sycamore, or by Shapter as the western plane), p. 13, is representative: "Beauty & luxuriance [?] of leaf & adaptability for town culture are its charms. First came from America, 1636. It grows so rapidly that when planted near water it will rise to the height of 40 feet in ten years. The bark peels off periodically." On the same page, Shapter copies descriptions of the tree from William H. Ablett and John Claudius Loudon (but attributes the latter to "Gilpin").
Subject Terms:
Botanical specimens -- Collection and preservation -- Great Britain.
Leaves -- Great Britain -- Identification.
Shapter, Mary Gibbs, 1842-1921.
Trees -- Great Britain -- Identification.
Trees -- Great Britain.
Women in natural history.
Form/Genre:
Botanical illustrations.
Ink drawings.
Herbaria.
Contributors:
Loudon, J. C. (John Claudius), 1783-1843. Arboretum et fruticetum britannicum. Selections.
Ablett, William H. English trees and tree-planting. Selections.
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"Of Green Leaf, Bird, and Flower" : Artists' Books and the Natural World (Yale Center for British Art, May 15, 2014-August 10, 2014) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]


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