https://www.kew.org/
Following a relaxing train ride to Middlesex in southwest London, the LIS group was treated to a wonderful day at the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens.
Our first presenter was Andrew Wiltshire who taught us about the connection between Beatrix Potter and Kew Gardens. Beatrix is most well known for The Tale of Peter Rabbit, but we learned there was a great deal more to her life than authoring children's books. At 15 years of age she developed her own code and used it to write in a personal journal. In this book she observed life around her, wrote about topical national matters, and drew hundreds of anatomically accurate pictures of plant and animal life. A curiosity about mushroom "fairy rings" inspired her to discover more about fungi and how they reproduced. In 1897 she wrote a research paper on the subject, but as a female she was not allowed to present her work to the Linnean Society, a group dedicated to the study of biology. A male member of the society presented the paper on her behalf, but ultimately her paper was refused. According to Andrew Wiltshire, her research was so thorough and accurate that had she been encouraged to continue, she might possibly have discovered penicillin before Alexander Fleming did in 1928. As a result of the rejection and disappointment, Beatrix stopped writing in her journal and began to write Peter Rabbit.
Our next presenter was Fiona Ainsworth, Head of Library, Art & Archives. As featured on the Kew Gardens website, Fiona describes her position and duties as follows:
"I am responsible for Kew’s Library, Art & Archives collections, comprising 300,000 books and pamphlets, 5,000 periodicals, 200,000 artworks, 7,000,000 archive documents, and a growing body of electronic publications and digitised collections; together these form one of the greatest collections of botanical literature in the world and document 2,000 years of botanical knowledge. I am responsible for managing Kew’s digital collections through Digifolia for images and Centris for records. With my team of 20, we acquire, curate, conserve, digitise and make accessible the collections to all staff at Kew and Wakehurst, as well as UK and international researchers in a wide variety of disciplines."
https://www.kew.org/science/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/people/fiona-ainsworth
Kew Gardens was founded in 1759 as the Royal Gardens of King George III, who was very interested in plants and earned the nickname of Farmer George. Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, advised King George on Kew Gardens and sent scientists on expeditions to collect plant species from all around the globe. Presently Kew employs 1000 staff and in addition to the Library and Archives and Gardens, features an Herbarium housing an estimated 7,000,000 dried plant samples.
Fiona was such a knowledgeable and enthusiastic speaker and was quite generous with her time and the resources she shared with us.
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| A table full of treasures. |
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| Scientific illustrations allow all of the features of the plant throughout its life cycle to be represented on one page. This book from the 1700s described how plants could be used to cure ailments and was written in Latin. |
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| This illustration from 1485 depicts the plant Mandragora also knows as Mandrake. For more information on this plant, and the myths surrounding it, click on the link below. Both Shakespeare and JK Rowling referenced this plant. Fascinating! https://www.kew.org/blogs/library-art-and-archives/love-potion |
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| The most valuable asset in the Kew Archives is a collection of letters from Charles Darwin documenting the Beagle voyage to the Gallapagos Islands. |
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| Photograph of Charles Darwin. |
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| Beatrix Potter's signature on the guest log, dating 20 May 1896. |
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| One of two original Beatrix Potter watercolor illustrations. |
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| This is one of the most rare items from the Archive--a pencil sketch of an orchid by Charles Darwin. |
Following our tour, the LIS group enjoyed lunch at the Orangery and a stroll through the picturesque Kew Gardens.
OMG! gorgeous illustrations and what about mother nature art work.
ReplyDeleteJust love it.