Recollections Of A Happy Life

The author of this essay, Marianne North, travelled to distant countries to paint exotic flora in their natural surroundings. North's two-volume memoirs, edited by her sister, document her remarkable travels. North endured swarms of insects, scaled cliffs, trudged through wilderness and crossed swamps in order to reach the plants she wanted to paint. Volume 2 of her memoirs covers North's travels to Australia and New Zealand, which she undertook at the suggestion of Charles Darwin. The work concludes with the last journey North made, to Chile in 1884-5, to paint the monkey-puzzle tree in its natural habitat. North's memoirs reveal the stories behind her art, which can still be appreciated today.

Marianne North (1830-90), the Victorian amateur botanist and painter, travelled to distant countries of the world to paint exotic flora in their natural surroundings. This two-volume collection of her memoirs, edited by her sister and published in 1892, records North's remarkable travels. Laden with her palettes and easels, the independent North travelled alone and fended for herself. Her journals describe how she endured swarms of insects, scaled cliffs, trudged through wilderness and crossed swamps in order to reach the plants she wanted to paint. Volume 2 covers North's travels to Australia and New Zealand, which she undertook at the suggestion of Charles Darwin. The work concludes with the last journey she made, to Chile in 1884-5, to paint the monkey-puzzle tree in its natural habitat. This autobiography reveals the stories behind North's art, which can still be appreciated today since her vivid paintings are displayed at Kew Gardens.