|
Helena Scott aka "Nellie Scott" (1832 Sydney – 1910) was an Australian illustrator of natural history. She and her sister Harriet Morgan (1830–1907) were the daughters of the noted Australian entomologist Alexander Walker Scott (1800–1883), known for his landmark book of 1864, ("''Australian lepidoptera and their transformations''" ), and illustrated by the Scott sisters. ==Family Life== In 1846, the family moved from Sydney to the remote Ash Island in the Hunter River estuary, near Hexham. Located in an untouched area of native vegetation and wildlife, they flourished under the guidance of their artistic father and Harriet Calcott, their mother. For a period of some 20 years, they remained on the island, documenting its plants and wildlife, with an emphasis on the butterflies and moths. Harriet and Helena kept unusually detailed records which are held by the Australian Museum Archives. They compiled a handwritten catalogue in 1862 entitled "The Indigenous Botany of Ash Island", a list of their well-preserved botanical specimens. Their striking depictions and descriptions of the island’s moths and butterflies attest to the enormous dedication of the family to their self-imposed project. A glimpse into the daily lives of the two sisters is provided by the meticulous records they kept. Together with their father, they collected live specimens from their neighbourhood, then determined the proper food plants to take back home and feed the hungry creatures. They then conducted a lively correspondence with various specialists to pin down the identities of the problematic species. Their father gave them full credit for their achievements, praising the quality of the drawings that showed the insects in all their various stages. The 1860s had also brought dark days for Helena – her mother’s death, her father’s bankruptcy and the death of her husband, Edward Forde, whom she had married in 1864. Facing enormous financial problems, the family were forced to leave their island home. The sisters were now obliged to seek payment for their work. While finishing some plates of birds’ eggs for Edward Ramsay in 1866, Harriet asked "''… above all … let nobody know you are paying me for doing them for you.''" She eventually married Dr Cosby William Morgan in 1882, but the widowed Helena continued to struggle financially. Both sisters continued to illustrate commercially for the rest of their lives. Harriet produced botanical illustrations for the 1879, 1884 and 1886 editions of the "Railway Guide to New South Wales", and both were involved in the production of Australia’s first Christmas cards in 1879. Helena died in Harris Park in 1910 leaving no descendants. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Helena Scott」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|