Fanny Elizabeth de Mole
Fanny Elizabeth de Mole (1 March 1835 - 26 December 1866) was a botanical artist who illustrated the first book of flora from the colony of South Australia.[1]
![book page illustration of red flower, buds and branch, with words "Sturt Pea" underneath](../I/Wild_flowers_of_South_Australia.jpg.webp)
De Mole was born in the residential rooms of Merchant Taylors Hall, London. Her father was John Bamber De Mole and her mother Isabel was the daughter of engineer Henry Maudslay.[2] She migrated to South Australia in 1857 to join two of her brothers.[3]
She wrote and illustrated the first book on wildflowers in that state, Wild flowers of South Australia in 1861.[4][5] In order to achieve colour quality which would not weaken through the printing process, lithographs of the illustrations were prepared in England by Paul Jerrard & Son and hand-coloured in Australia. The book contains 20 hand-coloured lithographed plates. There were an estimated 100 copies made of the original edition of Wildflowers of South Australia,[1] and it is quite difficult to obtain. In 2014 a copy of the book sold at Christie's for $3,750.[6] A facsimile edition of the book was published by Queensbury Hill Press in 1981.[7]
De Mole won prizes for her paintings at the 1865 exhibition of the South Australian Society of Arts.[1]
Five years after her book was published Fanny Elizabeth de Mole died from tuberculosis at Willunga, South Australia.[8]
References
- Hewson, Helen. "Mole, Fanny Elizabeth de". www.anbg.gov.au. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- "De Mole, Fanny Elizabeth (1835-1866)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- "de Mole, Fanny Elizabeth (1835-1866)". Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- Ideas and Endeavours –- The natural sciences in South Australia. / Chapter 5 Botany by E.L. Robertson. South Australia : Royal Society of South Australia, 1986.
- Olsen, Penny (2013). Collecting Ladies: Ferdinand Von Mueller and Women Botanical Artists. National Library Australia.
- "Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Americana". Christie's. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- De Mole, F. E. (1981). Wild flowers of South Australia. Carlton, Vic.: Queensberry Hill Press. ISBN 0909174318.
- From shadow into light: South Australian women artists since colonisation / by Shirley Cameron Wilson. South Australia: Delmont, 1988.