William Bartram's visual wonders : the botanical drawings of an American naturalist / Elizabeth A. Athens.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Athens, Elizabeth

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bartram, William, 1739-1823--Criticism and interpretation.

Bartram, William.

Zoological artists--United States--18th century.

Zoological artists.

Zoological illustration--United States--18th century.

Zoological illustration.

Physical Description:

xi, 250 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Pittsburgh, Pa. : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2024]

Summary:

"Pennsylvania naturalist William Bartram (1739–1823) is best known as the author of a travelogue describing his botanizing journey through the American South in the late eighteenth century. Writing was not, however, Bartram’s only or even preferred method of recording the natural world around him. His deeply unconventional drawings, depicting sentient plants and hybrid organic forms, lie at the heart of his understanding of nature. With this book, Elizabeth Athens considers the strangeness of Bartram’s graphic enterprise, exploring the essential role his renderings played in his natural history. For Bartram, the making and interpretation of figures on a surface was a dynamic and collaborative relationship between nature, the observing artist-naturalist, and the audience. This book offers the first in-depth investigation of Bartram’s drawing practice as central to his understanding of nature. Through an examination of Bartram’s approach to botanical and zoological representation, Athens highlights the struggle between different modes of seeing nature in eighteenth-century Enlightenment science"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Athenaeum literary award ; 2024

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy 1: Gemmill fund bookplate; copy 2 : Altemus Fund bookplate.

ISBN:

0822948265

9780822948261

OCLC:

1412500384