“I am glad that the month of October 1970 has been assigned to us for displaying the original artwork for The Endemic Flora of Tasmania.” This is the beginning of a letter written in December 1969 to Brian O. Mulligan, the Director of what was known then as the University of Washington Arboretum. The writer was Robert D. Monroe, the Chief of Special Collections Division of the University Library (now University Libraries) which would host the exhibit in the Smith Room of Suzzallo Library.
Monroe continues, suggesting an opening night reception for the exhibit. “We could sponsor this jointly, but all expenses would be met by the library. The guest list–50 couples being our limit–could be composed of 25 couples named by you and 25 by us. We should have a speaker for the evening.”
My research into this event was unsuccessful in determining who was chosen as speaker. Mulligan did not suggest any individuals in his reply letter. However, the exhibit of 40 water colors by Margaret Stones (1920-2018) did occur as part of a tour of ten North American botanical gardens and arboreta in 1970.
These paintings were chosen from the first two volumes of “The Endemic Flora of Tasmania.” This work eventually totaled six volumes published between 1967 and 1978. Stones’ precise illustrations presented a largely unknown flora to the world, with detailed text of both the botanical and ecological context by Winnifred Mary Curtis (1905-2005).
While Stones did not come to Seattle with her artwork, she was already well known for her botanical illustration skills. She illustrated three gardening books by the Scottish plant explorer E. U. M. Cox and his son Peter Cox in the 1950s and 1960s. She was the principal contributing artist to Curtis’s Botanical Magazine between 1958-1981.
This massive endeavor is a highlight of the Miller Library’s botanical art book collection, with design and printing qualities much higher than the average flora. These are huge books, measuring 16” high by 12” wide. 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