Ladies of the 1850s

'Who has ever rambled in the Australian bush without gathering a handful of pretty little wild flowers?... Many ladies, I am sure, would devote much of their leisure to the healthy exercise of a daily walk, coupled with the instructive and elevating pursuit of studying our native plants and forming them into a collection."

From the Ladies Almanac, Melbourne 1858 p32
and quoted in 'Collecting Ladies: Ferdinand Von Mueller and Women Botanical Artists' Penny Olsen 2013

Women like Mrs Larritt of the 1850's were encouraged to take an interest in flowers, yet it is unlikely these women appreciated the importance of the edible and medicinal plants. The 'forming them into a collection' is so retrospectively awful... our Western culture still likes to makes sense by organising things into structures yet much can be gained through allowing time to be more 'abstract' in my humble opinion.

Image 'Bulbine Lily on Shelbourne' Stone lithograph layered with reproduction map by Richard Larritt 1856 (SLV)

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