The Making of a Botanist: Joseph Dalton Hooker, 1817-1911
Lloyd Library and Museum
www.lloydlibrary.org
Oct. 8 – Dec. 30, 2011
This special exhibition celebrates the famed 19th-century botanist and explorer, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and reveals how and why he became the great botanist that he was.
The son of William Jackson Hooker (confidant to Charles Darwin and former Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), Joseph Dalton Hooker explored India and the Himalayas and made significant contributions to rhododendron and orchid research.
Throughout the exhibition, Hooker’s relationships with 19th-century naturalists such as Charles Darwin, Thomas Huxley, Alfred Russell Wallace, and Charles Lyell will be explored. Exhibition highlights include the first edition of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859), Victoria regia, or the Great Water-Lily of South America (1847) by William Jackson Hooker, and The Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya (1849) by Joseph Dalton Hooker.
The opening reception will be held on Saturday, October 8, 2011 (4-7 PM). During the reception, Gene Kritsky, noted author and professor at the College of Mount St. Joseph, will speak about the relationship Joseph Dalton Hooker had with Charles Darwin. Kritsky’s presentation begins at 4:30 PM.
In November, Michael A. Flannery (Associate Director of Historic Collections at the University of Alabama, Birmingham and the former Director of the Lloyd Library & Museum), will discuss his new book, Alfred Russel Wallace: A Rediscovered Life. This special event will occur on November 30, 2011, from 7-9 PM and includes a coffee and dessert reception.
The Lloyd Library and Museum has designed a poster to commemorate the life and career of Joseph Dalton Hooker. Featuring one of the plants documented by Hooker while he was in India and the Himalayas, this poster is available exclusively at the museum store for $10 (click on image).
The Lloyd Library and Museum, located at 917 Plum Street in downtown Cincinnati, is a local and regional cultural treasure. The library was developed in the nineteenth century by the Lloyd brothers — John Uri, Curtis Gates, and Nelson Ashley – to provide reference sources for Lloyd Brothers Pharmacists, Inc., one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of the period. Today the library is recognized worldwide by the scientific community as a vital research center. The library holds, acquires, and provides access to both historic and current materials on the subjects of pharmacy, botany, horticulture, herbal and alternative medicine, pharmacognosy, and related topics. Although the library’s collections have a scientific focus, they also have relevance to humanities topics, such as the visual arts and foreign languages. The Lloyd is open to anyone with an interest in these topics. Free parking is available for patrons and visitors behind the library building. For more information, visit the Lloyd website at www.lloydlibrary.org.
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