Luigi Balugani's Drawings of African Plants

343 Pages·1991·21.207 MB·\343

by  Paul Hulton (Author)

Luigi Balugani’s Drawings of African Plants

James Bruce of Kiunaird, aged 32, by Pompeo Batonj. Courtesy Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh.
L U I G I
From the collection made by James Bruce of Kinnaird
B A L U G A N I ’ S
on his travels
D R A W I N G S
to discover the source of the Nile 1767-1773
O F
By Paul Hulton • F. Nigel Hepper • lb Friis
A F R I C A N
Yale Center for British Art • New Haven ■ A. A. Balkema ■ Rotterdam • 1991
P L A N T S
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
Boca Raton London New York
CRC Press is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Croup, an informa business
Paul Hulton was formerly Deputy Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum
F. Nigel Hepper is a Principal Scientific Officer in the Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Dr Ih Friis is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Botany, Copenhagen University
Reprinted 2010 by CRC Press
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© Copyright 1991 by the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut
Published by
A. A. Balkema, P.O. Box 1675, Rotterdam, Netherlands
isbn 90-6191-779-4
Contents
vii Foreword and Acknowledgments
Duncan Robinson
i Introduction
Paul Hulton
3 I. An outline of tbe life of James Bruce of Kinnaird with particular emphasis on the
drawings he brought out of Africa
Paul Hulton
41 II. Luigi Balugani and his relationship with James Bruce
lb Friis & Paul Hulton
55 III. The authorship and quality of the plant drawings
Paul Hulton
61 IV. The scientific value of Balugani’s plant illustrations and notes
F. Nigel Hepper & lb Friis
69 The catalogue of plant drawings and their identifications
F. Nigel Hepper, lb Friis & Paul Hulton
115 Appendix i. List of accession numbers on drawings, with identifications
119 Appendix ii. Summary of James Bruce’s itinerary
121 Appendix iii. The early illustrated editions of Bruce’s “Travels”
123 Appendix iv. General bibliography and abbreviated references
Figures 1-330
125 Index i. Vernacular names of plants with botanical equivalents
129 Index ii. Scientific names of plants
133 Index iii. Names of places
137 Index iv. Names of persons, peoples, titles etc.

Foreword and Acknowledgments
In 1968 and 1977, Paul Mellon acquired from the collection of Lord Elgin of Broomhall the
drawings, watercolors, journals, letters and other records relating to the expedition which
James Bruce of Kinnaird undertook in search of the source of the Nile. Nine years later, he
gave the entire archive to the Yale Center for British Art and encouraged the proposal, which
was put forward shortly afterwards by Nigel Hepper of the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic
Gardens at Kew, to publish from it the drawings of African plants. This volume exists thanks
to Mr. Mellon’s abiding interest in the publication and to the generous support he has given
to it.
In 1981, Patrick Noon, Curator of Prints and Drawings, took charge of the project.
He has worked closely with Paul Hulton, formerly Deputy Keeper of Prints and Drawings
at the British Museum, whose art historical treatment of the material is matched by the scien­
tific knowledge of his two co-authors, Nigel Hepper and lb Friis of the Department ofBotany,
Copenhagen University. They wish to stress that, although separate chapters bear the names
of individual authors, the book is the product of close-knit cooperation.
Jointly, they thank the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, for many facilities
during the preparation of this work. They have benefitted from the expertise of several col­
leagues at Kew, especially the following: D. V. Field (Asclepiadaceae), C. Jeffrey (Compositae,
Cucurbitaceae), Susan Carter (Euphorbia), M.G. Gilbert (Asclepiadaceae, Labiatae, Loran-
thaceae), and W. Marais (Liliaceae), also N. K.B. Robson (Hypericaceae) of the British Muse­
um (Nat. Hist.). The staff of the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, have been very
helpful, especially Patrick Noon and his former assistant Paula Joslin, who compiled the first
basic list of the plant drawings. Constance Clement has patiently attended to the many pro­
duction details. Photography was carried out by Joseph Szasfai and Michael Marsland. In
London, Brian Allen and the staff of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, and
the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, kindly provided facilities.
They are grateful for the interest shown by colleagues at the University of Copenhagen and
to Dr. Kirsten Grubb-Jensen for help with the reading of copies of the Italian letters from the
Bruce archives. Lord Elgin of Broomhall kindly allowed access to his collection of Bruceana
and the photography of the drawings remaining in his collection. The staff of the Biblioteca
dell’Archiginnasio in Bologna provided access to manuscripts and books relating to Balugani.
Dr. Jacques Merrier of CNRS Paris kindly commented on the vernacular names. The maps
were drawn by Tim Aspden.
In conclusion, the Center acknowledges Lawrence Kenney’s contribution as copy editor
Foreword and Acknowledgments
vii