Open House 2009
We have set the dates for Open House 2009. It will be held on 14 and 15 June 2009 in conjunction with the spring exhibition, Wings of Paradise: Watercolors of Silkmoths by John Cody. We will offer two talks and displays, one on the life and work of Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717), whose work included beautifully illustrated folios on the insects of Surinam, and another highlighting women botanical illustrators over four centuries. We will also have a guided gallery tour of the exhibition by our assistant curator of art, tours of our departments and reading room, and opportunities to meet one-on-one with our staff to ask questions and see items in the collections. We encourage everyone to consider visiting us during this Open House. It will be a good time to see the new exhibition and an opportunity to have an inside look at our collections and our work. A schedule of events will be available soon here on our Web site. We are looking forward to your visit.
Bridson’s History of Natural History published
In October 2008 The Linnean Society of London published the second edition of Gavin D. R. Bridson’s The History of Natural History: An Annotated Bibliography. Published in 1994 by Garland Publishing, the first edition was the first such guide to this rapidly growing field of historical study. The second edition includes over 5,300 additional references and remains an essential source of information for scientists, researchers and enthusiastic amateurs. Gavin Bridson’s long career in natural history began in 1962 at the London antiquarian bookseller Bernard Quaritch and continued as Assistant Librarian (1963–1966) and Librarian (1966–1969) of the Department of Zoology at the British Museum (Natural History) [now The Natural History Museum in London], as Librarian and Archivist (1969–1981) at The Linnean Society of London, and as Bibliographer and Principal Research Scholar (1982–2008) at the Hunt Institute. Sadly, Bridson (1936–2008) passed away in January while the second edition was in press. For more information and to order a copy of the book, see The Linnean Society’s Web site.
2008 Lawrence Memorial Award
Dylan O. Burge, a student of Professor Paul Manos at Duke University, is the recipient of the 2008 Lawrence Memorial Award. For his dissertation research, Mr. Burge has undertaken an integrative research study of the genus Ceanothus. With the proceeds of the award, he will conduct field and collections-based work in Mexico.
14(1) Huntia delayed
The 14(1) issue of Huntia is taking a bit longer than expected but should be available early next year. All 2008 Associates will receive the issue after it is printed. All 2009 Associates will receive the forthcoming Sutton exhibition catalogue since we will not be publishing another issue of Huntia in 2009. As always, we are seeking submissions to our journal of botanical history. Please see the Huntia submission guidelines for topics.
2009 Associates Program
We hope that our Regular Associates and Patron Associates enjoyed their memberships in the Associates program during 2008 and took full advantage of their benefits. As you consider renewing for 2009 or joining for the first time, we would like to preview our plans for the upcoming year and mention some additions to the program.
Our annual Open House will be held in conjunction with the spring exhibition, Wings of Paradise: Watercolors of Silkmoths by John Cody, which will preview in March and run from 26 March to 26 June 2009. Previewing in October and running from 22 October 2009 to 29 January 2010 with an accompanying catalogue, the fall exhibition, Botanicals: Environmental Expressions in Art, is a selection of artworks from the Alisa and Isaac M. Sutton Collection, one of the largest private collections of contemporary botanical art in North America. Since we do not have enough submissions to publish an issue of Huntia in 2009, all members will receive the exhibition catalogue. For 2009 the teNeues Publishing Company has produced another Redouté datebook featuring 26 color images from our copy of his Choix des Plus Belles Fleurs (Paris, 1829). Those renewing or joining at the Patron Associate level also will receive this datebook while supplies last as well as an Ex Libris print and three free hours of staff research time. As always, all members receive a 25% discount on our cards and publications, behind-the-scenes tours by appointment, and our Bulletin.
To the Regular Associate ($35) and Patron Associate ($100) levels, we are adding two new membership levels for 2009, Sustaining Associate ($500) and Benefactor Associate ($1000). Both new levels will receive the same benefits as the Patron level. At these three levels, portions of your contributions are tax deductible in the following amounts, $40 for Patron, $440 for Sustaining, and $940 for Benefactor. We will also acknowledge all members with a listing in the fall issue of the Bulletin.
For anyone considering a first-time membership, this is the perfect time to join us. We also offer gift memberships in the Associates program. We can send an announcement card to you or directly to the recipient of the membership. A 2009 Associate membership is a great holiday gift for the botanist or botanical art lover on your list.
Those 2008 Regular Associates and Patron Associates wishing to renew their own or gift memberships should complete and return the renewal forms that will be sent with the fall Bulletin in November. Those planning to join or give a gift membership for the first time should complete and return the Associates program brochure that will be included with the fall Bulletin. If you do not receive a form with the fall Bulletin and want to renew or join, please use the Associates Order Form on our Web site or give us a call. We hope that you will join us for another exciting year. We appreciate your support of the Institute’s programs and mission.
Hunt Institute Sponsorship Program
Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt’s botanical collections of books, art, manuscripts, and portraits are known for their depth and fine quality, reflecting her enthusiasm and expertise in plants, gardens, books, and history. She was determined that her collections be “living” resources—not only preserved but also curated actively and used productively in the service of science and scholarship. To those ends, we continue to develop and enhance the collections at Hunt Institute, working to make them accessible and to preserve them for the future. We have an international audience and a small but growing group of interested donors. You can help to strengthen our collections and programs through monetary and/or material gifts.
Donor Recognition
We gratefully recognize donations in a variety of ways, such as with a letter of thanks, mention in our Bulletin and on our Web site, and through the use of donor bookplates. Of course, donors who wish to remain anonymous could be listed as such or may decline any official mention.
Monetary and Material Gifts
Monetary donations to Hunt Institute are tax deductible. Monetary gifts may be applied to our general operating fund or to the endowment generously established by the Roy A. Hunt Foundation to provide ongoing support for Hunt Institute. In addition to building the collections, gifts can be used for archival storage supplies, conservation and repair of collection material, digitizing and databasing projects, and production of publications. If you would like to expedite a current project or enable us to begin one, please let us know; special project support is always welcome. Or consider giving to one of the following funds:
Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden Art Acquisition Fund
This fund is named in honor of the late artist Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden (1907–2007). A 1930 graduate of Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), Anne Ophelia is considered America’s leading botanical artist of the past century. After working as a teacher and a textile designer, Anne Ophelia turned her attention to botanical illustration in the 1950s, embarking on another career. She worked from specimens to achieve correct and exacting details in her artworks and with botanists to ensure accuracy. Fascinated by the natural world and its connections, especially pollination, she wanted to educate, interest and engage the public about plants. To this end, she illustrated nine books and wrote and illustrated eleven for which she also did the design, layout and the publication preparation herself decades before desktop publishing. Her passion for botanical art, science and education made her so special and inspired a generation of artists. She also maintained numerous contacts with botanists, artists, and botanical gardens, and whenever she spotted new artistic talent, she made recommendations to the Hunt Institute.
The naming of this acquisition fund after Anne Ophelia is a fitting tribute to her legacy. Our restricted budget hampers the acquisition of works by artists, particularly those new to our series of International Exhibitions. Unlike funds in our regular budget, which are contingent on the fiscal year, monies in the Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden Art Acquisition Fund will remain available until needed. The purchase of artworks from this fund will enable us to support and recognize artists working in the genre of botanical art.
Our collection includes Anne Ophelia’s bequest of over 450 artworks from which we have organized several exhibitions and travel shows. In donating her artworks to the Institute, Anne Ophelia wanted them to be preserved, but she also wanted them to be accessible for study by botanical artists. This fund will allow us to preserve artworks by the current generation of botanical artists and make them available for study by the next.
Individuals, as well as botanical art societies and other organizations, may find this fund an attractive way to support the Hunt Institute. We are very pleased to thank Lotte H. Blaustein and the American Society of Botanical Artists for the first donations to this fund. For further information write James J. White, Curator of Art, Hunt Institute.
Ronald L. Stuckey Endowment for the Preservation of Botanical History
In 2003 Dr. Ronald L. Stuckey, professor emeritus of botany at The Ohio State University, established the Ronald L. Stuckey Endowment for the Preservation of Botanical History at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. This fund will help us to acquire and preserve photographs, biographical sketches, and obituaries of botanists, as well as books on botanical history and bibliography. We are grateful for Dr. Stuckey’s long-time interest in Hunt Institute, its collections and its mission. We welcome additional contributions to this fund from others who share our commitment to the preservation of botanical history.
Material gifts of artworks, books, papers, etc., are greatly appreciated. For more information about the types of material gifts that we are able to accept, please see the Archives, Art, Bibliography, and Library pages. Material not suitable for the collections will be returned promptly to the donor, or the donor can choose for the Institute to sell the items to raise funds, to offer them to another library, or (for published materials) to include them in the Institute’s duplicate sales.
We are happy to provide a letter of acknowledgment and a list of the material received, along with short descriptions if needed, but we are not permitted by the IRS, nor are we sufficiently knowledgeable, to make appraisals on items donated to us. If you have retained the purchase receipts connected with your gift(s), these might serve your tax purposes in lieu of an appraisal.
Memorial Gifts
Memorial gifts are also welcome. For example, books purchased through your contribution can be marked with a donor bookplate upon request, acknowledging your gift in memory of or on behalf of someone.
Other Types of Contributions
There are other ways that you can help. Take our biographical record forms to distribute at scientific or botanical art meetings to help swell our biographical files. If you see botanical biographies and obituaries, drop a note to our Archivist about them. Send us notices about botanists that appear in newspapers, magazines and other regional or non-botanical publications. If you know of a group that will be meeting in or visiting Pittsburgh, suggest that they contact us about a group visit to Hunt Institute.
Please don’t hesitate to confer with us about any proposed gift, including its use and acknowledgment. We appreciate your involvement, and we thank you for your interest.
Archives Collection List
Finding aids for individual collections have been linked from the Archives Collection List for Michel Adanson (1727–1806), Paul Hamilton Allen (1911–1963), an Anonymous collector of Narcissus, William Andrew Archer (1894–1973), Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858–1954), Peter René Oscar Bally (1895–1980), Rudolph Beer (1873–1940), Charles Edwin Bessey (1845–1915), Bernard Boivin (1916–1985), Botanical Garden of Padua, Botanical Society of America—Pacific Section, Adolphe Théodore Brongniart (1801–1876), Joachim Camerer (1534–1598), Harold Trevor Clifford (1927–), 11th International Botanical Congress (Seattle, 1969), David Grandison Fairchild (1869–1954), Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Aerzte, Edward Lee Greene (843–1915), Frederick Joseph Hermann (1906–1987), Hunt Botanical Library, John Hutchinson (1884–1972), Hugo Iltis (1882–1952), Nicolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727–1817), Jean Francois De Galaup (Comte) de La Perouse (1741–1788), George Hill Mathewson Lawrence (1910–1978), John Bernhard Leiberg (1853–1913), Willem Daniel Margadant (1916–1997), Mildred Esther Mathias (1906–1995), Franz Carl Mertens (1764–1831), Philip Miller (1691–1771), Benjamin Yoe Morrison (1891–1966), Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (1761–1836), David Prain (1857–1944), Joseph Rock (1884–1962), Velva Rudd (1910–1999), Norman Hudson Russell (1921–), William Edwin Safford (1859–1926), Arthur Moreland Scott (1888–1963) and Charles Swingle (1899–1978). More finding aids will be added soon. PDFs of thumbnails of individual and group portraits and biographical citations for many of the above subjects have been added to the individual collection pages.
