Margaret Stones (1920-2018) was born in Australia but spent much of her career in Britain. She was the principal contributing artist to Curtis’s Botanical Magazine from 1958-1981 and illustrated three gardening books by the Scottish plant explorer E. U. M. Cox and his son Peter Cox in the 1950s and 1960s. She is perhaps most famous for illustrating the six-volume “The Endemic Flora of Tasmania” published between 1967 and 1978.
She came to America for the bicentennial celebration in 1976, when Louisiana State University commissioned her to illustrate the “Native Flora of Louisiana.” This project eventually included 200 watercolors of the native plants and wasn’t completed until 1990. The stunning, folio size, limited edition book of these images only became available in 2018.
Both of these massive endeavors are highlights of the Miller Library’s botanical art book collection, with design and printing qualities much higher than the average flora. These are huge books: “Tasmania” measuring 16” high by 12” wide and “Louisiana” just slightly smaller. This makes the detail and artistry especially vibrant. Stones insisted on drawing from live specimens and would often seek examples in the wild. Other subjects were freshly picked plants flown from their source to her residence near Kew Gardens.
Author Phillip Cribb wrote in her obituary for Curtis’s Botanical Magazine (Volume 36, 2019): “During her life, Margaret fought hard for botanical artists to receive the recognition and recompense that their work demanded. Her contemporaries revered her for her efforts to promote the discipline and the present generation of botanical artists, most who did not know her, have benefited from her determination.”
Excerpted from the Winter 2021 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin