Viola_05

 

Gratiola_41

LeConte Watercolors

The University of Notre Dame Libraries, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections and the Edward Lee Greene Herbarium (NDG) of the University of Notre Dame, Department of Biological Sciences has granted us permission to display their collection of LeConte watercolors. The watercolors were created by Major John Eatton LeConte. Edward Lee Greene, an American botanist from 1843-1915, purchased the volume of 42 LeConte watercolors of Viola, Utricularia and Gratiola from a used book store in Philadelphia in 1897.

View the entire collection of LeConte watercolors.

According to Barbara J. Hellenthal, Curator at the Museum of Biodiversity at the University of Notre Dame who sent us the CD containing digital photographs of the watercolors, they hold special significance, beyond any "artistic" merit, because some of them are viewed as Type specimens (name bearers for plant species). The plant specimens from which LeConte painted them, while he was describing new species, were not preserved. This was in the 1820s and the rules of taxonomy and plant nomenclature or, even, the requirement for depositing Type specimens were not as rigidly followed as today. Consequently, the special circumstance of designating the original illustrations as the Type specimens, rather than actual plant specimens has been invoked.

Each image is labeled with a genus name (Viola, Utricularia, or Gratiola) and a number that represents their positions (or page numbers) in the original "folio", which is like a picture album with marbled boards and blank pages. The watercolors, painted on watercolor paper and then cut out of what must have been larger watercolor sketch pads or paper, were laid into the "album". This would have been done by LeConte. Each of the watercolors is a different size and many are not even truly square at the corners, as you will see on the margins of some of the images. The illustrations are small and some are faint although some effort has been made to enhance them. Most of the handwriting is LeConte's with a few identifications and comments added by Greene.

LeConte published monographic works on Viola, Utricularia and Gratiola that relate to his watercolor illustrations in the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York (Volume 1 in 1824 and Volume 2 in 1828), but the illustrations were not included in the publications. You can find digital copies of the Annals in Google Books.