ADVENTUROUS ARTIST IN TOWNSVILLE UNIVERSITY'S MANY TREASURES

A recent interesting  donation to the  Special Collections  section of  the Eddie Koiki  Mabo  Library, James Cook, University, Townsville, included  three  American  books  by Alice Lounsberry , illustrated  by  pioneering   Australian   botanical   artist,  Ellis  Rowan  (1848-l922). 

The  books  are   from  the estate  of  Townsville  resident   Paul   Tonnoir  who with  his wife, June, ran a fine art gallery and antiquarian book  business   in  Magnetic  House, started in l978.   

                                

He was  also an approved  Australian Government   valuer  of  cultural donations  to public galleries , museums , libraries and archives. His particular areas of interest were Australian paintings and prints after 1800 ; North Queensland  paintings and prints  after  l964 ; European prints after  1700 ; antiquarian  books  after  l500 and  Persian carpets. 

Paul  also    promoted   North Queensland  history and  strongly  backed  moves  for a  local  museum . 

He  was  particularly interested  in   Melbourne  born   Ellis Rowan  who  travelled  about   the north  of Australia , Torres Strait islands  , New  Guinea  , Europe  and   India , painting  flowers,  plants, birds, butterflies and  insects . As a result, it is  possible the   books  may have actually once  been  in  Rowan's  own  collection.  

Some of  her  work appeared in the  l886 Picturesque Atlas of Australasia, by Andrew Garran , published in  parts  in Sydney , which in words, maps  and  pictures  described  Australia, New Zealand  and the  South Pacific. 

The writer of this post  had  a bound in volume of the Picturesque Atlas  of Austrasia  which was  badly damaged in Cyclone Tracy . However, some engravings  were   salvaged , including  the  striking  work  of   Ellis  Rowan .

During her  exploration of  New Guinea  she  painted  47 of  the   52  known species of  Birds of  Paradise , and   collapsed  from  malaria  ,  carried  by  "cannibals " many  miles  to the  coast  .  Dubbed  The Wild Flower  Hunter , her work  was  exhibited  in   Australia,  India  , England , Europe and  the  USA , collected  by  royalty . 

The  National Library of  Australia has  a large collection of  Rowan's  art. 

Of  Rowan it was  said  she  was  a  much-loved  botanical  artist , a  woman who made her mark at a time when scientific illustration  was  a  male  domain.

In  America,  she   teamed  up  with  and  travelled  widely on expeditions  with  botanist and author  Alice  Lounsberry  and  illustrated  her  books  about  flowers  and   trees , published  in 1899, 1900 and  l901 , which were big  sellers. 

Lounsberry , on  the  board of  the  New York Botanic Gardens, was a  fan of  Rowan's. They first made contact  after  Lounsberry heard Rowan had  collapsed   due  to  influenza  on  a  visit  to  New York  and  was in  hospital.

Wikipedia  says  Alice  took a  handpicked box of wildflowers to the hospital, alongside a card reading “From  one flower seeker to another - and an admirer of your work”. Rowan was touched by the gesture, and the two became  friends, despite  their  twenty year  age  difference.

                    

There are  unclear  handwitten names  of  Americans  in  those   books in Special Collections : Dr (?) and Mrs  Robert  R. Hartman (?), Jacksonville Illinois, plus a date, Chicago, September 1900 ; Bess Pennell, Christmas,1900.  

There was  no apparent  Ellis Rowan  contribution  in    two  other botanical   related  books  - The  Human  Side of  Plants  and  The Human Side  of  Trees- donated  to  the  university  and  added  to  other  Rowan  material . 

Author  Royal  Dixon , born Texas  l885, was a  highly regarded naturalist  , animal  rights  activist, botanist  and philosopher. He  founded  the  first  Church of  Animal  Rights in 1921. 

The  book on the right , published 1912  by Frederick A. Stokes Publishing, New York, ,  was dedicated   to  Colonel Theodore  Roosevelt,  described  as   America's  foremost  naturalist.

Years ago , Tonnoir  provided Special Collections  with a  rare item related  to  James Morrill, who  lived with  Aborigines for 17 years  after  being  shipwrecked  near Townsville  in 1846 , aged  22  . 

It was  an 1857 Book of Common Prayer , in green suede  with brass  edgings, presented to  James Ross Morrill, his only son, by  godparents  Robert E. and Mary  Pym, of  Bowen , Queensland , where  Captain  Pym  was  the  Harbour  Master.                                          

                                                                

Another indication of  Paul  Tonnoir's  great  finds  was  the  above 1866 book, now in Special Collections, presented to  journalist and author Edmund James  Banfield  by  his  mother.   Banfield's father owned the Ararat, Victoria, newspaper , where  Edmund received  early  training . 

In 1881 he went to  North Queensland, worked on the Townsville  Bulletin , moved to  the  then  uninhabited  Dunk Island   with his wife , where   he  wrote  The Confessions of a  Beachcomber , published  1908,  regarded  as  an  Australian classic . His  grave  on  Dunk  is  on  the  Queensland  Heritage Register .

(University. America. Artist.)