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Adopt-a-Book

An Initiative of the Friends of the University of Adelaide Library

Wild flowers of South Australia

Fanny Elizabeth De Mole (1835-1866)
London: Paul Jerrard, 1861

Rare Books & Special Collections
Strong Room Collection SR 581.9942 D38

We thank our donors...

Conservation treatment of two copies of Wild flowers of South Australia was generously funded by Adopt-a-book donors Judith Symon and Lise Windsor. Their valued, combined contributions have ensured that these important South Australian botanical books will be available for future generations of researchers for many years to come.

Synopsis

Published in 1861 and containing 20 hand-coloured plates, Fanny Elizabeth De Mole's Wild flowers of South Australia was the first book published to illustrate the flora of our State. It was the only book she produced.

Born in 1835 and raised in England, De Mole was the eighth of ten children. Her father was the clerk of London Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors and her mother, Isabel, the daughter of renowned inventor and engineer, Henry Maudslay. De Mole, like her siblings, was said to have inherited her artistic talents from her father.  After his death, the De Mole family migrated to South Australia. Fanny's brothers arrived first and then she departed in 1856.

She settled near Burnside and began illustrating botanical specimens found in the locality. Specific details of the Wild flowers... production process are not known but it is believed De Mole executed the line drawings and then sent them to London for printing. The lithographed plates were then returned to the colony, where she coloured them by hand, possibly with the assistance of other family members.

Less than one hundred copies of Wild flowers of South Australia were produced, each with its own colour variations. It was the first book to illustrate the flowers of South Australia and the only book De Mole produced. She went on to exhibit flower paintings at the annual South Australian Society exhibitions and won several prizes in its 1865 exhibition.

Plagued by ill health for much of her childhood, De Mole died from tuberculosis in 1866, aged just 31. Her choice of local specimens to illustrate Wild flowers of South Australia, was likely indicative of her frail health and an inability to venture too far from home.

Original Condition

Gilt stamped presentation copy bound using Gutta-percha, a natural latex produced from the sap of trees belonging to the Palaquium genus and commonly found in Malaysia. Over time the Gutta-percha had dried and become brittle, causing individual leaves to detach entirely from the spine. Severe bumping to spine with a large section of leather missing altogether from the head.

Half-bound copy showed signs of significant wear and distortion with pieces of its cloth and leather cover torn. Its illustrated plates had first been attached to paper and then bound tightly together, causing the book to strain when opened and putting the individual leaves at risk of damage.

Restoration by Anthony Zammit

Leather binding removed from the presentation copy and the leaves re-sewn to form a stable textblock. New headbands attached to head and tail of spine. Original leather binding replaced and new, custom-dyed leather inserted at the board corners and spine where it had previously deteriorated. Front and rear inner joints reinforced with Japanese repair paper and a slipcase custom-made to ensure safe ongoing storage.

Half-bound copy also disbound. Original cloth/leather binding too fragile to reuse. Leaves re-sewn such that textblock can be opened with ease. Rebound in new, conservation binding, sympathetic in style and colour, to the original. Silk headbands attached and new endpapers inserted. Slipcase custom-made to ensure safe ongoing storage.

University Library
Address

Barr Smith Library
South Australia 5005
Australia

Contact

Phone: +61 8 8313 5224
special.collections@adelaide.edu.au