Beschreibung:

Captain Frederick Parr (1806-d. after 1865) Drawings of Madeira Plants, taken from Nature, during a Residence in that Lovely and Productive Island . [?Madeira: paper watermarked 1835-1844]. 2° (592 x 406 and smaller). An album of 47 pencil and bodycolour botanical drawings on 45 sheets., some captioned in pencil below. (Scattered light spotting on title and a few drawings, a few drawings with small marginal tears.) Contemporary brown cloth, titled in gilt on the upper cover (skilfully rebacked preserving original spine, the album disbound and the drawings loosely interleaved with tissue). Provenance : Frederick Parr (artist); John C.W. Parr (bookplate, with inscription 'to his sister Catherine H[arrieta]. E[stelle]. Rees'); sale, Christie's, London, 28-29 October 1987, lot 449. A FINE COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL WATERCOLOURS, DEPICTING THE FLORA OF MADEIRA. Frederick Parr was born on 29 June 1806, the second son of Thomas Parr of Lythwood Hall, Wiltshire, who is described as 'formerly one of the most eminent merchants of Liverpool ... He is a connoisseur in paintings and prints, and has, at considerable labour and expense, formed an almost unique collection of British coins, exhibiting a connected series from the earliest period to the present time' (J. and J. Burke A ... Dictionary of the Landed Gentry (London: 1849, p.1003). Little is known of Frederick Parr's life: the War Office's A List of the Officers of the Army (London: 1828-1841) records that he held a commission as a Lieutenant in the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot between 1828 and 1835, and was promoted to Captain in 1836, a position he held until 1841. The latest record of him in Burke's Dictionary is found in the fourth edition of 1863, but neither he, nor his family, appear in the fifth edition of 1871, and the latest watermark recorded in one of his albums is 1865 (see below). Captain Parr appears to have been an informed and widely-travelled natural historian, and eight albums compiled by or for him can be traced, of which five relate to Madeira. Those of Madeira are: the present album, c.1835-1844; The Ferns of Madeira and Tenerife, Collected during the Pedestrian Wanderings of ... , a manuscript bound in 3 volumes with 300 specimens mounted on 130 leaves, c.1865 (sale Swann, 3 November 1983, lot 162); Drawings of Madeira Fishes , an album of 53 watercolour drawings on 45 leaves (sale Sotheby & Co., 8-11 July 1929, lot 505, resold Hodgson and Co., 29 June 1967, lot 46); Drawings of Madeira Plants , 72 watercolour drawings, (sale Hodgson & Co., 29 June 1967, lot 46); and Drawings of Madeira Plants , 84 watercolour drawings, (sale Sotheby & Co., 8-11 July 1929, lot 506). The other three albums are: Specimens of Flowering Plants, Collected by..., During a Residence in India, and Drawn from Nature by Hindoo Artists under his Superintendance , an album of 87 watercolour drawings, 32 zoological, the remainder floral, c.1850 (Tomasi An Oak Spring Flora , item 105); Drawings of Tropical Flowers, Rare Exotics taken from Nature in South America , 100 watercolour drawings, c.1850 (sale Sotheby & Co., 26-28 July 1937, lot 321); and Specimens of Flowering Plants Collected by ... , c.100 watercolour drawings, c.1850 (sale Sotheby & Co., 9-11 December 1957, lot 356). Of these, the Indian album is notable for its watercolours by the Indian artists who accompanied Parr on his expeditions into the depths of the forest, where 'they lived in ''tents pitched with difficulty ... in the wildest scenes imaginable'' ' (Tomasi p.394), and also for the manuscript captions to the watercolours, provided by the noted botanist Robert Wight, author of Illustrations of Indian Botany (Glasgow: 1831, cf. lot 76) and Icones plantarum Indiae Orientalis (Madras: 1840-1853, to which Parr was a subscriber). Like the present album, it also bears a bookplate with an inscription recording the gift of the album from John C.W. Parr to his sister Catherine Harrieta Estelle Rees.