Mark Catesby (1683 – 1749)
BOTANICALS
The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and Bahama Islands (1754), by the English naturalist Mark Catesby is a magnificent natural history work, the first published account of the flora and fauna of North America. After spending four years in Charlston, South Carolina, Catesby returned to England in 1726, where he spent the next 20 years preparing and publishing his Natural History. The collection consists of 220 antique plates, from which this selection is taken. The Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus included information from Catesby's Natural History in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae (1758).
