18 October - 14 December 2008

'Nature's Best': Flora and Fauna from the Hesketh Collection

This exhibition will showcase some of the natural history books from the Hesketh Collection which is currently on loan to Lancaster University Library from the Trustees of the Second Baron Hesketh’s Will Trust. The collection was largely formed during the first part of the 20th Century by the first and second Lords Hesketh and formed part of the celebrated library at Easton Neston in Northamptonshire.

Included in the exhibition will be books on birds by John Gould, R Bowdler Sharpe and Thomas Pennant. The botanical side will be represented with works by Sydenham Edwards, Mary Lawrance and Robert Thornton. Also on show will be plates from the University Library's own copy of the Flora Londinensis by william Curtis which was printed between 1777 and 1798.

One of the stars of the exhibition will be Mark Catesby's Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Published between 1731 and 1743 it was the first published account of the flora and fauna of North America. It provided the means by which Europeans could view the natural produce of North America and thus was a part of the continuing discovery of the continent. Most of Catesby's figures were based on watercolour sketches that he made in the field or upon specimens made available to him in England.

Robert Thornton: The Snowdrop	John Gould: Eagle Owl with Chicks	Robert Thornton: Dragon Arum

Catalogues are available for many of our exhibitions - see our Publications List for details.

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