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M. Gillett botanical plates

 Unprocessed Material — Folder: ViU2024-0088_001
Identifier: ViU-2024-0088

Content Description

This collection contains a single-bound manuscript produced by an English student of botany, dated 1838 with the name and date "M.Gillet" inscribed on the front endpaper with "M. Gillet" stenciled with a floral wreath border in the front free endpaper. The book contains watercolor, pencil, and ink illustrations of plants. The manuscript opens with tissue-guarded images of common English plants, including a key to leaves ("roundish," "linear," "kidney-shaped," "trowel-shaped"). The text appears to be the student's own synthesis of botanical terms and concepts, rather than the transcription of a published work. The fourteen numbered ink plates throughout the text are as follows: "Elementary organs," "Compound organs," "Linnaean classes," "Linnaean orders," and "A table of the primary divisions of the natural order." The identity of M.Gillet is unknown, but it is possible that this may have been the work of a female student as botany was one of the few scientific pursuits deemed suitable for women in the nineteenth century.

Acquisition Type

Purchase

Provenance

Purchased from Honey & Wax, 16 April 2024.

Language of Description

English

Restrictions Apply

No

Dates

  • Creation: 1838

Extent

.03 Cubic Feet (1 letter folder)

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

Inventory

1 volume