Henrietta McBurney Ryan | Independent Researcher (original) (raw)

Books by Henrietta McBurney Ryan

This book explores the life and work of the celebrated eighteenth-century English naturalist, exp... more This book explores the life and work of the celebrated eighteenth-century English naturalist, explorer, artist and author Mark Catesby (1683-1749). During Catesby’s lifetime, science was poised to shift from a world of amateur virtuosi to one of professional experts. Working against a backdrop of global travel that incorporated collecting and direct observation of nature, Catesby spent two prolonged periods in the New World – in Virginia (1712-19) and South Carolina and the Bahamas (1722-26). In his majestic two-volume The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (1731-43), esteemed by his contemporary John Bartram as ‘an ornament for the finest library in the world’, he reflected the excitement, drama and beauty of the natural world. Interweaving elements of art history, history of science, natural history illustration, painting materials, book history, paper studies, garden history, and colonial history, this volume brings together a wealth of unpublished images as well as newly discovered letters by Catesby, which with their first-hand accounts of his collecting and encounters in the wild bring the story of this extraordinary pioneer naturalist vividly to life.
The volume was published by the Paul Mellon Centre/Yale, London, on 22 June 2021. It won the 2022 Award of Excellence in Biography from the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries; the Historians of British Art award for a single-author book with a subject between 1600 and 1800 (2022); and the Society for the History of Natural History, John Thackray Medal (2023).

A Catalogue Raisonne of the drawings of birds commissioned and collected by Cassiano dal Pozzo an... more A Catalogue Raisonne of the drawings of birds commissioned and collected by Cassiano dal Pozzo and his younger brother Carlo Antonio dal Pozzo during the first half of the 17th century in Rome. The majority of the surviving drawings are now in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, while others are in private and public ownership in Britain and elsewhere. The introductory essay and catalogue are in Volume B.IV with the related appendices and bibliography in B.V.

The book discusses two rare and important survivals of wall painting schemes at Eton College - th... more The book discusses two rare and important survivals of wall painting schemes at Eton College - the late 15th-century Miracles of the Virgin on the walls of the College Chapel, and an early 16th-century depiction of a school scene, discovered under 18th-century panelling in the Head Master's Chambers in 2005 - each connected with a major early phase of building at the College, and each representing different strands of artistic development in England. Discussions of iconography, context and function, and artistic links and influences are accompanied by detailed analyses of materials and techniques.

The book explores the creation and history of one of the largest surviving depictions of Venice, ... more The book explores the creation and history of one of the largest surviving depictions of Venice, a bird's eye view by Odoardo Fialetti signed and dated 1611. The 8 metre-square painting, given to Eton College in 1636 by Sir Henry Wotton, underwent restoration in 2010-11, and was exhibited in the British Museum's Shakespeare exhibition in 2012.

Book chapters by Henrietta McBurney Ryan

Encyclopaedia of Gardens. History and Design, ed. Candice A. Shoemaker, Chicago, 2001

Entry on the horticultural interests of the naturalist artist Mark Catesby as revealed in his Nat... more Entry on the horticultural interests of the naturalist artist Mark Catesby as revealed in his Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (1731-43) and his posthumous publication, the Hortus Britanno-Americanus (1762).

Walking on the Grass, Dancing in the Corridors. Newnham at 150, 2021

The chapter describes the bequest to Newnham College made in 1929 of the collection of c. 86 item... more The chapter describes the bequest to Newnham College made in 1929 of the collection of c. 86 items by the artist, collector and supporter of women's education and suffrage, Christiana Herringham (1852-1929). The collection can be broadly divided into four main groups of fine and decorative art: paintings by Herringham herself, including three of her tempera copies after Italian 'Primitives' and eight watercolour studies of plants showing the influence of Ruskin; an important collection of Japanese watercolours including kakemonos (hanging scrolls), and woodblock prints; a collection of textiles, ranging from English embroideries to Far Eastern textiles and robes; and Oriental export furniture, small decorative objects and books. The artworks are the subject of a full catalogue currently being undertaken by the author.

Maria Sibylla Merian. Changing the Nature of Art and Science, 2022

The chapter describes the influence that Merian's Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (1705) h... more The chapter describes the influence that Merian's Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (1705) had on the art and science of Mark Catesby, as a model of a naturalist artist, a pioneer in depicting fauna on its host flora, and in its bold and visually striking compositions.

Published in E. Charles Nelson and David J. Elliott eds, 'The Curious Mister Catesby, a "truly in... more Published in E. Charles Nelson and David J. Elliott eds, 'The Curious Mister Catesby, a "truly ingenious" naturalist explores new worlds', University of Georgia Press, Athens & London 2015 (winner of 2016 Annual Literature Award for a significant work in botanical or horticultural literature).

The text of the chapter is based on a lecture given at the Catesby Commemorative Trust's tercentenary conference on Mark Catesby held at the Smithsonian Institution , Washington, D.C., in November 2012. The chapter discusses the materials and techniques used by Mark Catesby in his watercolours, and his borrowings from the work of other natural history artists.

The paper, published as part of the proceedings of a two-day colloquium held in December 1987 in ... more The paper, published as part of the proceedings of a two-day colloquium held in December 1987 in Naples, charts the history of Cassiano dal Pozzo's Paper Museum from acquisition of much of it by King George III, through the dispersal of some parts of it, to the beginning of the project to reconstruct it in its entirety. The second section of the paper lists the contents of the Paper Museum housed in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle.

General Introduction to 'The Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Catalogue Raisonne', 1986

General Introduction by Francis Haskell and Henrietta McBurney to the multi-volume series, 'The P... more General Introduction by Francis Haskell and Henrietta McBurney to the multi-volume series, 'The Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo. A Catalogue Raisonne. Drawings and Prints in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, the British Library, the British Museum, and the Institut de France and other Collections', Arthur MacGregor and Jennifer Montagu, gen. eds (Royal Collection in association with Harvey Miller Publishers), first published in 1986 and reprinted in each part of the series.

Papers by Henrietta McBurney Ryan

Archives of Natural History , 2023

A unique format copy of Catesby's Natural History of Carolina in the Smithsonian Libraries and Ar... more A unique format copy of Catesby's Natural History of Carolina in the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, Washington, DC, is identified with the copy Catesby sent to the naturalist and plant collector John Bartram. It is suggested this copy was coloured by Catesby himself and that it may also have been used as an exemplar or set of pattern plates for Catesby's colourers.

Newnham Roll Letter , 2018

The article discusses several ways in which the artist, collector, suffragist and advocate of wom... more The article discusses several ways in which the artist, collector, suffragist and advocate of women's education, Christiana Herringham (1852-1929), supported Newnham College in the early years of the C20.

The Garden , 2000

One of two florilegia or flower books made by the English plantsman, horticulturist, artist and e... more One of two florilegia or flower books made by the English plantsman, horticulturist, artist and entomologist, Alexander Marshal (c. 1620-82), which is now in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. (The other, now lost, painted on vellum for the gardeners, the John Tradescants, depicted the plants growing in their garden at Lambeth.) The Windsor florilegium, painted on paper, is a seasonal record of the flowers in Marshal's and his friends' and patrons' gardens. It was painted against the backdrop of the reign of Charles 1, the Civil War and the Restoration and is significant as the only extant representative of native botanical art in England in the C17.

PuLSe, 50, Linnean Society, 2021

The article discusses the one surviving letter the naturalist artist Mark Catesby (1683-1749) wro... more The article discusses the one surviving letter the naturalist artist Mark Catesby (1683-1749) wrote to the Swedish botanist and taxonomist Carl Linnaeus (1707-78) in Uppsala to tell him that ' A Case of American Plants in Earth …' was being sent to him. With his letter, Catesby included a copy of his broadside 'Catalogue of American Trees and Shrubs that will endure the Climate of England'; a portion of the broadside with Catesby's etching of Magnolia grandiflora has recently been discovered in Uppsala.

The Burlington Magazine , Apr 2020

An unfinished variant oil portrait by William Nicholson of Blanche Athena Clough (1861-1960), pri... more An unfinished variant oil portrait by William Nicholson of Blanche Athena Clough (1861-1960), principal of Newnham College, Cambridge (1920-23) was discovered by conservator Julie Crick hidden behind the finished portrait of Clough in the college’s SCR. The portrait constitutes a new addition to Nicholson’s oeuvre.

Apollo Magazine 8 October , 2019

Online article to accompany English Heritage's campaign entitled 'Save our Story' highlighting th... more Online article to accompany English Heritage's campaign entitled 'Save our Story' highlighting the need for protection and conservation of England's wall paintings https://www.apollo-magazine.com/england-historic-wall-paintings/

The article describes the fundamental role played by Prince Albert in helping Queen Victoria ar... more The article describes the fundamental role played by Prince Albert in helping Queen Victoria arrange and house the royal collection of drawings, watercolours, prints, miniatures and enamels in a Print Room, specially designed by him, which is still in use in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, today.

Published in Antique Collector, October 1983, pp. 56-61

Describes the fortuna of the volumes of drawings from Cassiano's Paper Museum acquired from Cardi... more Describes the fortuna of the volumes of drawings from Cassiano's Paper Museum acquired from Cardinal Albani by King George III in Rome in 1762, from their arrival in London together with the collection of Consul Smith in 1763, through subsequent vicissitudes during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and the continued search for the dispersed drawings.

Encyclopaedia of Gardens. History and Design, ed. Candice A. Shoemaker, Chicago, 2001

Walking on the Grass, Dancing in the Corridors. Newnham at 150, 2021

Maria Sibylla Merian. Changing the Nature of Art and Science, 2022

General Introduction to 'The Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Catalogue Raisonne', 1986

Archives of Natural History , 2023

Newnham Roll Letter , 2018

The Garden , 2000

PuLSe, 50, Linnean Society, 2021

The Burlington Magazine , Apr 2020

Apollo Magazine 8 October , 2019

Published in Antique Collector, October 1983, pp. 56-61

The paper discusses images of Henry VI in paintings, sculpture, stained glass, drawings and print... more The paper discusses images of Henry VI in paintings, sculpture, stained glass, drawings and prints in the collections at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge.

The paper discusses images associated with the legendary figure of Jane Shore, mistress of Edward... more The paper discusses images associated with the legendary figure of Jane Shore, mistress of Edward IV.

The paper discusses the discovery in 2005 of an early sixteenth-century wall painting showing a s... more The paper discusses the discovery in 2005 of an early sixteenth-century wall painting showing a school scene. The rare painting was found behind panelling in a Tudor room in Eton College

Eton Collections Review, No. 4, Jun 2010

An article describing and illustrating the hang of portraits at Eton College in 1900 is introduce... more An article describing and illustrating the hang of portraits at Eton College in 1900 is introduced and reprinted, together with further photographs of the historic interiors taken from the Eton College Photographic Archive.

An overview of the late 15th-century wall painting scheme and its function as part of the decorat... more An overview of the late 15th-century wall painting scheme and its function as part of the decorated interior of Eton College Chapel

Lecture given at the Maplethorpe Lecture Theatre, UCL School of Pharmacy, 29-39 Brunswick Square... more Lecture given at the Maplethorpe Lecture Theatre, UCL School of Pharmacy, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX on Monday 14 October 2019.

In 1711 Dr John Addenbrooke, founder of the now famous Cambridge hospital, gave his Materia Medica cabinet to St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. The cabinet survives to this day, housed in one of the fellows’ rooms in the college. In 2016 it was the subject of a study involving an inventory and identification of its contents. While much of these contents were the animal, vegetable and mineral substances typical of remedial medical practice of the mid-seventeenth to early-eighteenth centuries, some unexpected objects were found to be part of Addenbrooke’s cabinet.

This talk will describe the contents and use of the cabinet in the context of other medical cabinets and collections of the period, highlight some of the more surprising objects discovered, and discuss the importance of this rare object in the history of collecting.

Given to Venice in Peril on 20 June 2013, in Election Hall, Eton College, in front of the newly-c... more Given to Venice in Peril on 20 June 2013, in Election Hall, Eton College, in front of the newly-conserved painting by Fialetti of a View of Venice, 1611.

The talk discussed the mystery of who commissioned Fialetti's View, and why, and the fortuna of the painting once it had arrived in Eton twenty-five years after it was painted.

A talk given at a symposium on John and William Bartram organised by the Paul Mellon Centre for S... more A talk given at a symposium on John and William Bartram organised by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, June 2018

The talk was given at the conference 'The Visual Worlds of the Royal Society' organised by the Ma... more The talk was given at the conference 'The Visual Worlds of the Royal Society' organised by the Making Visible project at CRASSH, Cambridge, 16-17 July 2018.

During the early years of the eighteenth century, the Royal Society provided a focus for intellectual exchange between scientists, artists and antiquarians. The naturalist-artist, Mark Catesby (1682-1749), described by a contemporary as ‘pretty well skilled in natural history who designs and paints to perfection’, was elected a member in 1733, following publication of volume I of his Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands (1731-1743). Catesby took an active part in the Society’s activities, attending meetings, acting as official draughtsman, sitting on the Repository committee, presenting papers, reviewing publications, and backing other natural scientists for membership.

Evidence of Catesby’s activities are preserved in the Society’s library and archives. In addition to a copy of the Natural History coloured by himself, they include entries in the Journal, Record, Register and Account books, and an important corpus of his letters to the botanist William Sherard, written from South Carolina between 1722-5. The paper will highlight some of these documents - as well as flag up several missing items - to show the role the Royal Society played as the backdrop to Catesby’s work.

The talk was given on the occasion of International Women in Architecture Day, named in honour of... more The talk was given on the occasion of International Women in Architecture Day, named in honour of Ethel Mary Charles (1871-1962), elected first woman member of the RIBA in 1898. As a great niece of Ethel Charles, I was invited by the RIBA to give a speech, the content of which was drawn from the Charles family archive and from initial research into the architectural drawings and sketchbooks of Ethel and her sister Bessie (elected 2nd woman member of the RIBA in 1900). The majority of these drawings were given by Ethel to the RIBA (now part of the RIBA drawings collection housed in the V&A), while two sketchbooks are still in family possession. An article entitled, ‘"A Plea for women practising architecture"’: Ethel and Bessie Charles, first women members of the Royal Institute of British Architects' is currently awaiting publication (Sept 2019).

The paper was given as part of the Maria Sibylla Merian Conference 2017 (Amsterdam 7-9 June). It ... more The paper was given as part of the Maria Sibylla Merian Conference 2017 (Amsterdam 7-9 June). It discussed various ways in which Mark Catesby's 'Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands' (1731-1747) was shaped by Merian's 'Metamorphosis insectorum surinamensium' (1705). It sought to analyse and illustrate Merian's influence from a number of angles, including her example as a naturalist/explorer who travelled abroad to study aspects of the natural world in the field; her observation of the interaction between fauna and flora in its native habitat; her use of knowledge gained from indigenous peoples of the medicinal and useful properties of flora and fauna; her collection methods; and her working up of her spectacular large format plates, coloured by herself and her daughters, and published with accompanying text describing her direct observations.

A version of the paper is to be published as 'The influence of Maria Sibylla Merian's work on the art and science of Mark Catesby' in K. Etheridge, M. van Delft, B. van de Roemer, eds, 'Changing the Nature of Art and Science: Intersections with Maria Sibylla Merian', Lannoo publisher, forthcoming 2022.

The talk discussed Catesby’s work as a field naturalist and explorer during the three years he s... more The talk discussed Catesby’s work as a field naturalist and explorer during the three years he spent in South Carolina, based in Charleston. What were the conditions in which he lived and explored the region and how did he collect, record, preserve and ship back to England the plant and animal specimens he found? Simultaneous to Catesby’s naturalist activities was his work as an artist, begun while he was in the New World, and continued and developed on his return to England. The creation of both his watercolours and the etched compositions which were to form the plates for his magnum opus, 'The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands', involved interaction with several other artists. The talk explored the techniques and processes that lie behind the enduring images Catesby created for his book.

The talk was given at the Society of Apothecaries, London, as part of the Society's 90th birthday... more The talk was given at the Society of Apothecaries, London, as part of the Society's 90th birthday celebrations for HM The Queen. It was given in conjunction with a display of Addison Publishers' facsimiles of the watercolours by Mark Catesby which are have been part of the Royal Library, Windsor Castle since their purchase by George III in 1768.

Catesby was closely connected with the Apothecaries' circle, several of whose members were sponsors of his plant collecting in North America, and subscribers to his book. The talk explored the interconnections between botany, medicine, horticulture and art during the first half of the 18th century.

Talk given to The Linnean Society of London to celebrate the publication of the Cassiano Catalogu... more Talk given to The Linnean Society of London to celebrate the publication of the Cassiano Catalogue Raisonne series, Volume B.IV/V, 'Birds, Other Animals and Natural Curiosities' (Royal Collection in association with Harvey Miller Publishers, London 2017)

Three speakers offer perspectives on Mark Catesby's 'Natural History' from the different discipli... more Three speakers offer perspectives on Mark Catesby's 'Natural History' from the different disciplines of art history, bibliography and natural science.

We Are Here. Women in Art at Cambridge Colleges, ed. Prerona Prasad, exhn cat., Heong Gallery, Downing College Cambridge, 2020

The paper was written in connection with an exhibition to celebrate women's art in Cambridge Coll... more The paper was written in connection with an exhibition to celebrate women's art in Cambridge Colleges, shown at the Heong Gallery, Downing College Cambridge (March-May 2020). It discusses Christiana Herringham's artistic training, her connections with the Arts and Crafts Movement, and the collection of fine and decorative art she gave to Newnham College in 1929.

Booklet to accompany an exhibition of 20 watercolours by Mark Catesby from the Royal Library, Win... more Booklet to accompany an exhibition of 20 watercolours by Mark Catesby from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, at Gainsborough's House, Sudbury, Suffolk, 6 July-12 October 2013.

Exhibition catalogue of a selection of 60 watercolours by Mark Catesby shown in Koriyama (City Mu... more Exhibition catalogue of a selection of 60 watercolours by Mark Catesby shown in Koriyama (City Museum of Art), Nara (Sogo Museum of Art), Tokyo (New Omani Art Museum) and Kobe (Hankyu Museum) during 1997-1998. Catalogue entries by Henrietta McBurney and introduction by Amy Meyers. Translated into Japanese (no English version of the catalogue entries was published).

Exhibition catalogue of a selection of 52 watercolours by Mark Catesby from the Royal Library, Wi... more Exhibition catalogue of a selection of 52 watercolours by Mark Catesby from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, exhibited at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The De Witt Wallace Gallery, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, Telfair Museum of Art Savannah, Georgia, and the Queen's Gallery, London, during 1997-1999. Catalogue entries by Henrietta McBurney and introductory essay by Amy Meyers.

Catalogue of 81 drawings and prints from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, which once formed par... more Catalogue of 81 drawings and prints from the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, which once formed part of Cassiano's Paper Museum, exhibited in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1997

Talk given in the Principal's Lodge, Newnham College, 5 May 2018.

Journal for the History of Collections , 2023

Review of Peter Mason, Ulisse Aldrovandi: Naturalist and Collector, London Reaktion Books, 2023