Mark Catesby - Curious Inclinations

Curious Inclinations

“He was constantly stuffing his pockets with feathers, roots, seeds, berries, acorns and cuttings and wasting his time painting everyday subjects such as the delicate purple flowers that bloomed on sweet potato vines” ~ diary of William Byrd, planter, 1712

That 'he' was Mark Catesby (1682-1749, a British naturalist, draftsman and explorer who had just undertaken his first distant journey - convinced there was a world beyond Essex and the UK. What began as a visit to his sister grew into a profound fascination with the pristine beauty of southeastern North America.

Life's work

In 1722, Catesby returned. He collected plants and birds, drew living specimens and proposed the theory that birds migrate - as well as that humans could prove a threat to nature.

Catesby's work was revolutionary. It was the first systematic exploration of the area's flora and fauna and formed the basis of his life's work: 'The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands'.

This subscription-style publication - a necessity due to his limited resources - consisted of two volumes, which together ran to a whopping 750 pages. It took 20 years to appear. Half of the work consisted of etched folio-sized plates that were subsequently hand-colored.

Original etchings in the Library

The Trésor Collection, the TU Delft Library's special book collection, has twenty etchings depicting fish made by Catesby.

Stop by the reading room on Friday to see them in real life. More info available at the information desk.