The Curious Mister Catesby: A "Truly Ingenious" Naturalist Explores New Worlds

by E. Charles Nelson (Editor), David J. Elliott (Editor), Cynthia P. Neal (Contribution by), Shepard Krech III (Contribution by), Kraig Adler (Contribution by)

Overview

In 1712, English naturalist Mark Catesby (1683–1749) crossed the Atlantic to Virginia. After a seven-year stay, he returned to England with paintings of plants and animals he had studied. They sufficiently impressed other naturalists that in 1722 several Fellows of the Royal Society sponsored his return to North America. There Catesby cataloged the flora and fauna of the Carolinas and the Bahamas by gathering seeds and specimens, compiling notes, and making watercolor sketches. Going home to England after five years, he began the twenty-year task of writing, etching, and publishing his monumental The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands.

Mark Catesby was a man of exceptional courage and determination combined with insatiable curiosity and multiple talents. Nevertheless no portrait of him is known. The international contributors to this volume review Catesby’s biography alongside the historical and scientific significance of his work. Ultimately, this lavishly illustrated volume advances knowledge of Catesby’s explorations, collections, artwork, and publications in order to reassess his importance within the pantheon of early naturalists.

Contributors: Kraig Adler, Aaron M. Bauer, Janet Browne, David J. Elliott, W. Hardy Eshbaugh, Kay Etheridge, Stephen A. Harris, Valerie Herbert, Suzanne Linder Hurley, C. E. Jarvis, Shepard Krech III, Mark Laird, Henrietta McBurney, Judith Magee, Sarah Meacham, Cynthia P. Neal, Charles Nelson, Leslie K. Overstreet, Florence F. J. M. Pieters, Ghillean T. Prance, Diana Preston, Michael Preston, Karen Reeds, James L. Reveal, Robert Robertson, Marcus B. Simpson, Jr.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820347264
Publisher:	University of Georgia Press
Publication date:	03/01/2015
Series:	Wormsloe Foundation Nature Books , #41
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 11.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

SHEPARD KRECH III is a professor of anthropology and director of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University. He is a past president of the American Society for Ethnohistory and has been a fellow and trustee of the National Humanities Center. His many books include The Ecological Indian and Encyclopedia of World Environmental History.

Editorial Reviews

For the book’s top-notch construction and amazing array of colored maps and illustrations, The University of Georgia Press should be commended, reminding us why the physical book is so worthy of praise. This book should find a deserved place on the shelf of both general and academic readers.

The Journal for Southern Literature - Vaughn Scribner

Mark Catesby, the English naturalist and artist, as well as his considerable accomplishments, is given new life in this well-written, multiauthored account. Emphasis is placed on Catesby's travels in North America that led to his monumental volumes on the flora and fauna of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahamas. The book is an important addition to the library of the history of natural history of colonial America.

William D. Anderson Jr.

With this prolific, informative, and superbly illustrated volume, Nelson and Elliott have re-established Catesby's reputation and secured a place for him in the pantheon of early naturalists. Advancing knowledge of Catesby's explorations, collections, artwork, and publications while introducing new audiences to the historical and scientific significance of his work, The Curious Mister Catesby is an unquestioned success.

South Carolina Historical Magazine - Barabara Spence Orsolits

As if one of Catesby's ivory-billed woodpeckers swooped down before your eyes, this work draws the once-mysterious Catesby out of the shadows and, fittingly, displays him in vibrant living color.

Charleston Mercury - Robert Salvo

The Curious Mister Catesby is an absorbing blend of early colonial history in the American Southeast and the Bahamas, with the rich fauna and flora the settlers freshly contained. Catesby emerges as one of the first true naturalists of the New World.

Edward O. Wilson

A landmark book filled with introspective and concise essays, each developed with a richness of detail, revealing the absorbing portrait of a self-taught artist from Suffolk who had an insatiable curiosity about nature. Wonderfully readable, this classic is an engaging introduction to Catesby's timeless illustrations and to his keen observation of the natural world. Like an investigation by forensic scientists the contemplative and thorough scholarship of these authors reveals new insight into Catesby, his journeys, his peers, and the inexhaustible pursuit of botanical and zoological specimens in an eighteenth-century world.

Marian Hill

This comprehensive, lavishly illustrated work . . . will stand for many years as the best critical analysis of [Catesby's] work, and of the groundbreaking natural science that his curiosity inspired.

Nature - Linda Lear

I remember learning about Catesby’s work... [through] a book by the University of Georgia Press called The Curious Mister Catesby. I had had the chance to look through this beautiful volume and can report this is one book you will most definitely appreciate holding and leafing through rather than reading electronically.

Director of the Crosby Arboretum - Patricia Drackett

The Curious Mr. Catesby is important for the history of natural history as it offers so much to know and understand about this interesting man and his contributions to natural history.

Huntia - Charles Tancin

This remarkable commemorative publication represents the perspectives of two dozen learned contributors representative of a broad spectrum of disciplines, including historians, botanists, zoologists, ornithologists, anthropologists, landscape architects, fine arts authorities, museum specialists and associated fields. Each of the 22 chapters is an essay revealing another of the many layers of Catesby's genius.

The Post and Courier - Ben MCC. Moise

“The Curious Mister Catesby is an absorbing blend of early colonial history in the American Southeast and the Bahamas, with the rich fauna and flora the settlers freshly contained. Catesby emerges as one of the first true naturalists of the New World.”—E. O. Wilson, University Professor Emeritus of Entomology, Harvard University

“Mark Catesby, the English naturalist and artist, as well as his considerable accomplishments, is given new life in this well-written, multiauthored account. Emphasis is placed on Catesby’s travels in North America that led to his monumental volumes on the flora and fauna of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahamas. The book is an important addition to the library of the history of the natural history of colonial America.”—William D. Anderson Jr., professor of marine biology, Grice Marine Biological Laboratory, College of Charleston

"A landmark book filled with introspective and concise essays, each developed with a richness of detail, revealing the absorbing portrait of a self-taught artist from Suffolk who had an insatiable curiosity about nature. Wonderfully readable, this classic is an engaging introduction to Catesby's timeless illustrations and to his keen observation of the natural world. Like an investigation by forensic scientists the contemplative and thorough scholarship of these authors reveals new insight into Catesby, his journeys, his peers, and the inexhaustible pursuit of botanical and zoological specimens in an eighteenth-century world."—Marian Hill, former president of the Garden Club of America

"The naturalist Catesby has been unfairly underrepresented. . . . He receives his due in this volume with essays by 26 authorities, primarily American and English academics, plus 238 color illustrations. . . . This work contains new material on the pioneering naturalist and artist and is thoroughly referenced with chapter notes and an extensive bibliography. Appendixes list all of Catesby’s paintings with modern scientific and common names for all plants and animals. This work of scholarships is a joy to behold. It will interest naturalists, art historians, and American historians." —Library Journal (Starred) 

"This comprehensive, lavishly illustrated work . . . will stand for many years as the best critical analysis of [Catesby's] work, and of the groundbreaking natural science that his curiosity inspired."—Linda Lear, Nature

From the Publisher

★ 03/01/2015
Mark Catesby (1683–1749) was an outstanding English naturalist, artist, and traveler who spent 12 years in the New World. He then took some 20 years to complete his resulting masterpiece, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands, decades before John James Audubon and Alexander Wilson, though they later overshadowed Catesby's unprecedented achievements. His artwork, collecting, and studies, of plants and birds especially, influenced Carl Linnaeus and the great American botanist John Bartram. Catesby's depictions of nature are crude compared to those by Audubon, or even Wilson, but their compositions and backgrounds foretold similarities to those of later artists. The naturalist Catesby has been unfairly underrepresented compared with the artists mentioned above. He receives his due in this volume with essays by 26 authorities, primarily American and English academics, plus 238 color illustrations, compiled by botanist Nelson (Shadow Among Splendours) and Elliott (executive director, Catesby Commemorative Trust). This work contains new material on the pioneering naturalist and artist and is thoroughly referenced with chapter notes and an extensive bibliography. Appendixes list all of Catesby's paintings with modern scientific and common names for all plants and animals. VERDICT This work of scholarships is a joy to behold. It will interest naturalists, art historians, and American historians.—Henry T. Armistead, formerly with Free Lib. of Philadelphia

Library Journal