ILLUSTRATED MANUSCRIPT BOTANICAL JOURNAL KEPT BY A CHILD IN EDWARDIAN EDINBURGH

HENDERSON, G. S.:

Published by [Original manuscript]., 1913

Small quarto (22.5 x 17.5cm). Green cloth with titles in black - "Nature Note Book" - to the upper board. Calligraphic owner's name in green ink to the front free endpaper. 87pp. of manuscript ink text recording observations of various plants, flowers and fauna, with a heading to each page stating the date and location, and with each page also embellished with one or more pencil and watercolour drawings. The remaining 103pp. of the journal blank. Condition is very good, the binding square and firm with a little inconsequential cracking in places and a neat linen reinforcement to one gutter. The contents with the odd minor finger-mark are otherwise in very good order and clean throughout. A charming illustrated botanical journal kept by a child in Edwardian Edinburgh recording their daily observations of plants, flowers, and occasionally birds, frogs and butterflies in their garden, neighbourhood and elsewhere (including Dunoon). Entries range from the simple - "I have some sunflowers out in my garden. They are also called Leopard's Bane"; "I saw some Dog's Mercury flowering in Glen Morag" - to the more detailed: "I saw a little yellow flower flowering on the edge of a corn field on the path to Swanston farm. It has a long trailing root and seems to spread a great deal for I found great masses of it together, I think that it is called Lady's Mantle"; "A friend gave me some Wild Violets which she had got from Strathtay. They are also out at Carlops." A wonderful example of a young person's engagement with the natural world in Scotland at the beginning of the twentieth century. Seller Inventory # 1356

Bibliographic Details

Title: ILLUSTRATED MANUSCRIPT BOTANICAL JOURNAL ...
Publisher: [Original manuscript].
Publication Date: 1913
Binding: Soft cover