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The Fairy-land of Science
In 1864 at age twenty-four, Arabella Buckley became the secretary for geologist Charles Lyell. From this position she gained connections to other important Victorian-era scientists such as Alfred Wallace, Charles Darwin, and Thomas Huxley. Upon Lyell’s death in 1875, she pursued her own career writing popular scientific works, including many for children. She wrote over ten books on science, some published in multiple editions and translated into other languages. Her publishing success was due to her ability to describe major scientific ideas with rich literary imagery, as in Fairy-land of Science. -
On the Plains, and Among the Peaks, or, How Mrs. Maxwell Made her Natural History Collection
Naturalist Martha Maxwell brought Western fauna into public view through her skills at taxidermy. She defined the art of creating natural history dioramas with animals displayed in their natural habitats. Maxwell’s half-sister wrote a biography recounting her contributions as a scientist and documenting her correspondence with Spencer Fullerton Baird, the second Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Despite the quality of her work, Martha Maxwell struggled to make a living and died destitute. A few of Maxwell’s original specimens survive and are in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution. -
[Portrait of Martha Maxwell from “Mrs. M.A. Maxwell’s Rocky Mountain Series”]
Naturalist Martha Maxwell brought Western fauna into public view through her skills at taxidermy. She defined the art of creating natural history dioramas with animals displayed in their natural habitats. An aspiring scientist, she left Oberlin College for lack of money and journeyed west to join the Gold Rush. Maxwell corresponded with the Secretary of the Smithsonian, Spencer Fullerton Baird, sending him bird specimens. Today a few of those specimens survive and are the only examples of her work and evidence of her two Rocky Mountain Museums in Denver and Boulder, Colorado. In 1877, a subspecies of the Eastern Screech Owl, Megascops asio maxwelliae, was named in her honor. To support her work and her family, Maxwell established a museum and charged admission. Her Rocky Mountain Museum first opened in Boulder in 1874 and moved to Denver the following year. Maxwell was invited to show her work in the Colorado Building at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. Her display was one of the most popular at the internationally attended event. So many people asked whether the displays could have been done by a woman that she put up a sign reading “Woman’s Work.” Maxwell shot, trapped, and prepared all her own specimens, noting that “The world demands proof of woman’s capabilities.” -
Telescope teachings: a familiar sketch of astronomical discovery: combining a special notice of objects coming within the range of a small telescope, illustrated by the author's original drawings: with a detail of the most interesting discoveries which have been made with the assistance of powerful telescopes, concerning the phenomena of the heavenly bodies, including the recent comet
Irish naturalist and artist Mary Ward wrote and illustrated bestselling books on astronomy, microscopy, and entomology. Her exceptional illustrations were admired by some of the leading male scientists of the day, who helped her gain access to equipment and commissioned her to illustrate their publications. She made time for her scholarly work after her children were in bed. Her publications provided critical income for the family. Telescope Teachings includes Ward’s detailed description of Donati’s Comet. -
On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences
Mary Somerville was one of the foremost British scientists of the nineteenth century. Though forbidden by her father to study mathematics, she taught herself geometry and algebra in secret, pursuing her interests during a time when scientific education was not yet formalized and scientific pursuits were considered beyond women’s abilities. In 1835 Somerville and Caroline Herschel were the first women elected as honorary members of the Royal Astronomical Society. On the Connexion comprehensively summarizes contemporary knowledge in all areas of the physical sciences. It was publisher John Murray’s best-selling science title to date, was published in ten editions in Britain, and translated widely. -
Plates Illustrating the Geology & Scenery of Massachusetts
Orra White Hitchcock’s geological and botanical illustrations were published to accompany her husband Edward Hitchcock’s Report on the Geology, Mineralogy, Botany, and Zoology of Massachusetts, the first state geology published. She began her career teaching young women at Deerfield Academy, where she met Edward, who became a leading geologist and president of Amherst College. Orra’s work was integral to that of her husband, who atypically always gave her credit for her work. As a scientist herself, she observed and drew hundreds of specimens of native plants, mushrooms, and lichen. She was one of the most important American scientific illustrators of the time. -
Cosmographie
Bound in a lovely pink, gilt-edged and stamped glazed paper binding, schoolgirl Emma Lascal’s beautifully observed and sensitively drawn cosmography report summarizes the astronomical knowledge of her day. Nineteenth-century advances in the telescope resulted in a heightened popular interest in astronomy across Europe. Lascal, a student at the Convent of Notre Dame in Paris, created this manuscript for her “2eme classe.” She illustrates the phases of the moon, the heavenly constellations, and a comparison of the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems. -
A Compendious System of Astronomy [...]
Keenly aware that she was venturing into a new sphere for women, Margaret Bryan included mathematics and science in the curriculum to be taught to girls at her schools in Blackheath, London, and Margate. Bryan wrote on physics and optics, using straightforward language and everyday examples. The subscribers for this title included celebrated mathematicians and astronomers as well as Bryan’s former pupils. This copy has two manuscript letters from Dr. William Kitchiner tipped in, related to his book on telescopes. -
Erucarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis: in qua origo, pabulum, transformatio, nec non tempus, locus & proprietates erucarum, vermium, papilionum, phalaenarum, muscarum, aliorumque hujusmodi exsanguium animalculorum exhibentur: in favorem, atque insectorum, herbarum, florum, & plantarum amatorum, tùm etiam pictorum, limbolariorum, aliorumque commodum exactè inquisita, ad vivum delineata, typis excusa, compendiosèque descripta
Keenly observant entomologist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian was the first to study and depict the metamorphosis of insects in the field. She taught girls botanical drawing and sold her specimens, prints, and books to earn a living. Her first work, Der raupen wunderbare verwandlung, was published in Nuremberg between 1679 and 1683. Erucarum ortus is a reworking of Der raupen, translated into Latin by her daughter Dorothea. This copy includes many counterproofs, printed from a wet impression, to create a print in reverse. The collection also includes Merian’s De europische insecten (Amsterdam, 1730).
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