Roupell - SPECIMENS OF THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA BY A LADY

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R100,000 - R140,000

Roupell - SPECIMENS OF THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA BY A LADY

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[Arabella Roupell]
SPECIMENS OF THE FLORA OF SOUTH AFRICA BY A LADY or CAPE FLOWERS BY A LADY

London: Privately Published, MDCCCXLIX [1849]

FIRST EDITION, large folio, dedication, preface, list of subscribers, hand-coloured lithographic title, 8 hand-coloured plates preceded by text, 1 hand-coloured tailpiece vignette, lithographs heightened with gum Arabic, original purple morocco tooled in gilt and blind, all edges gilt, corners bumped, rubbing along edges of boards, hinges and head- and tailcap, light scuffing and some fading of boards, foxing

Accompanied by leather-backed letter to Arabella Roupell from Dr Karl von Martius, eminent botanist and representative of the Royal Bavarian Botanical Society of Regensburg (also known as Ratisbon). The letter is full of praise and accolades and mentions a diploma awarded to her by the Society for her “scientifical art” contributing to what Dr Martius refers to as, the “bloomy field of our science”.

PROVENANCE
I.B. Pole Evans (probably Illtyd Buller Pole-Evans)
Handwritten presentation note by the daughter-in-law of the author, Elizabeth Chute Roupell, to Dr Pole Evans dated Sept 28th, 1835.
A note by Catherine Anne Reid (undated) that the book belonged to Major-General Francis Archibald Reid C.B. of Madras army.

The publication of the rare work of beautiful flora from the Cape of Good Hope was due to the recognition of the artistry of Arabella Roupell by others. In the 1840s Arabella Roupell and her husband, Thomas Boone Roupell of the British East Company, decided on a change of climate and moved from Madras, India to the Cape for two years. In the Cape she started painting the wild flowers they gathered, mainly to please her husband. By chance Dr Wallich, a Danish botanist, stayed in the same accommodation and when he saw Roupell’s flower paintings he convinced her to allow him to take them to England. There Wallich showed the paintings to Director of Kew, Dr Hooker, who was so impressed by their beauty and accuracy that he arranged publication. He recommended P. Gauci as the lithographer and Professor Willian Henry Harvey supplied the descriptive text. Dr Hooker also brought the paintings to the attention of Queen Victoria and both she and the Prince consort became subscribers. According to the subscriber’s list there were 103 subscribers and only 111 copies were published.

However, due to Roupell’s Victorian sensibilities, she would not have her name published and used “A Lady” instead. But there were clues to her identity. The tailpiece vignette, the Roupellia grata, was the only flower not endemic to southern Africa. In addition, Professor Harvey hinted at its importance in the text as “an appropriate conclusion to this work from its beauty and fragrance, its use and the generic name it bears”.

Despite the initial secrecy, Roupell’s name was revealed in print by both Dr Hooker and Dr Wallich, as also evidenced by the letter included with this lot. However, as the years passed, the information and identity of Arabella Roupell were lost and the book became unlinked from its author. This led to an investigation by Mary Gunn and Dr Gubbins in the 1930s, and as described by Dr I.B. Pole Evans (important South African botanist) at the exhibition opening in 1952, this search led directly to the donation of the original watercolours to General Smuts by Arabella Roupell’s daughter-in-law and the Roupell family. Thus returning the works to South Africa.

In the dedication of Specimens of the Flora of South Africa, Dr Wallich is thanked for his role and rightly so, because without his intervention this, to quote Sir William Hooker, “Ouvrage de lux” would not have left the modest hands of its artist.

REFERENCES
Anon, “Exhibition of Water-colours by Mrs. Roupell”, Africana Notes and News, March 1952, Vol IX, No 2, pp. 33 – 35
Anon, “Cape Flowers by a Lady”, Africana Notes and News, 1952/3, Vol. 10, pp.142-145
Gunn, M. & Codd, L.E., Botanical exploration of southern Africa. Cape Town: Balkema, 1981.
[Roupell, A.], Specimens of The Flora Of South Africa By A Lady, London: Privately Published, [1849]