Designed To Perfection: Mark Catesby's Natural History

     In 1712, English naturalist Mark Catesby took his maiden voyage across the Atlantic to Virginia.  Little did the young Catesby know that this would not be his last such journey, and would open his eyes to a new world still largely unknown to the Old World.  This initial trip was solely for the purpose of visiting his sister, Elizabeth Cocke.  Elizabeth’s husband, Dr. William Cocke, was a very prominent physician and advisor to Governor Alexander Spotswood.  It was through Dr. Cocke and his prominent Virginia connections that Catesby would find his way into the grand homes of the Commonwealth’s elite.

  

     After spending the better part of seven years in Virginia, Catesby returned to England, but only for a brief period before journeying to North America, again.  This second trip would bring Catesby for business, rather than pleasure.  Under the sponsorship of the Royal Society, an organization composed of English aristocracy and the scientifically minded, Catesby was able to make the voyage to Charleston, South Carolina to begin a four-year study on the flora and fauna of British North America.  The result of his extensive research produced Catesby’s most noted work, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands.  From his arrival in Charleston in 1722 to the completion of his Natural History in 1747, Catesby would devote twenty-seven of his sixty-six years to this first extensive survey of the flora and fauna of the entire region. 

     Noted for its beauty and exhaustive detail, his work would be collected by kings and queens, lords and ladies, as well as the lesser elite and well-to-do of England and continental Europe.  Catesby’s star would fade for much of the 19^th century as naturalists in Europe and the United States, with greater knowledge and understanding of wildlife in their regions, began producing more detailed surveys of the local flora and fauna.

     The 20^th century brought the spotlight back to Mark Catesby, with the rise in sales of the various editions of Catesby’s work.  In the late-20^th century, Queen Elizabeth II’s collection of Catesby’s works, inherited from her ancestor King George III, travelled on exhibition.  In 2012, Mark Catesby returns to the limelight again, as the 300^th anniversary of Catesby’s first arrival in Virginia is celebrated and remembered.  On October 25, 2012, Wilton House Museum will open its exhibition Designed To Perfection: Mark Catesby’s Natural History, featuring prints by the acclaimed naturalist and engraver.