This is a unique opportunity to see a display of some
of the first scientific natural history drawings from Nepal in London at Embassy of Nepal, 12A Kensington Palace Gardens.
 |
Daphne papyrifera |
Admission is free, and the show will be open to the public 7-24
January,
Monday-Friday, 10am-1pm and 2-4pm
This collection of drawings from Nepal was made
by Dr Francis Buchanan (later known as Buchanan-Hamilton) between 1802-03, when he was practicing as a
surgeon-naturalist on the British Mission led by Captain Knox. During his year
in the Kathmandu Valley, he documented more than a thousand plant species, many
of which are now rarely seen. This Scottish 'father of Nepalese botany' laid
the foundation of botanical knowledge for this Himalayan country, and over 500
new species have been described using his collections.
 |
| Woodcut of George Buchanan |
Buchanan-Hamilton took with him to Nepal a Bengali artist
from Calcutta who prepared exquisite coloured watercolour drawings of over a
hundred species – 27 of which have been selected for this exhibition. On his
return to England in 1806, Buchanan-Hamilton gave these drawings, and his other
scientific records, to his friend James Edward Smith, and
they have lain virtually unknown in the archives of the Linnean Society of London ever since. This exhibition is the first public
viewing outside Nepal of the Buchanan-Hamilton’s drawings, made by a talented but
sadly un-named Indian artist.
Current research is still uncovering the scientific and cultural
value of these early collections. Buchanan-Hamilton placed great importance on
the local names that the people were using for plants and instructed his Indian pandit, Babu
Ramajai Bhattacharji, to record these spoken names and translate them into
English. Buchanan-Hamilton frequently used these common names for the new
scientific names that he coined and subsequently wrote on the drawings.
Buchanan-Hamilton is now recognised as the pioneer of
biodiversity research in Nepal, but he could not have done this by himself and
he needed to collaborate with Nepalese and Indian people. As he was one of the
first foreigners to spend any length of time in Nepal, he had an unsurpassed
understanding of the people, their cultures and traditions, which later helped
underpin the developing relationship between Britain and Nepal. Two centuries
on, botanical research continues with British and Nepalese scientists working
together on the Flora of Nepal.
This facsimile exhibition has been produced by the Linnean Society of London and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, with the support of the
Embassy of Nepal and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
It has been sponsored by Nature & Herbs UK Ltd.
