Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 2018 (Accumulation)
- 1922-1927 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
1 box, 45cm
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Scottish botanist, filmmaker, author, poet, painter and arctic explorer Isobel Wylie Hutchison was born in 1889 at the family home of Carlowrie in West Lothian. As a youngster she became a self taught plant collector and naturalist enjoying solitary walks in the countryside. She longed to travel and amongst many journeys, travelled to the Holy Land by herself in 1923, before making four major expeditions north to the Arctic between 1927 and 1936, to Greenland, Alaska, Arctic Canada and the Aleutian Islands where she collected plants, took photographs and made films. She died in 1982.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Items appear to have been deposited in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Archives in May 1987 after being used in a National Library exhibition.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
• A sketchbook of watercolour and pencil scenes, people and flowers from Scotland (including Ben Lomond, River Almond, Carlowrie and Craigiehall Wood), Jerusalem, Nazareth and Galilee, plus loose picture of white house, c.1922-1924
• Two herbarium specimens of historic interest, the first displaying "flowers that spent the night with me in my tent on Eggers Island", 30-31.08.1927, South Greenland, being Carex, Rhodida Rosea, Poa and Calamagrostis; the second displaying a rose from Mrs Mathieson's house, Nanortalik, October 1927; Rose from "Kirsteen", Julianehaab, Disko Island, 09/11/1927; and a carnation from Captain Pedersen's bouquet on leaving Copenhagen for Leith, December 1927.
• Wooden plant press with leather strap and blotting paper used by Hutchison and with the name C. de Leger inscibed within.
• In 2018 a catalogue, showcasing the Isobel Wylie Hutchison Collection, inspired by Hutchison and launched at Carlowrie Castle in October 2018, along with associated tote bag, was added to the collection.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Collection is open to researchers by appointment, see (right click, open link in new tab:) https://www.rbge.org.uk/science-and-conservation/library-and-archives/visiting-the-library/
Conditions governing reproduction
Permission required from RBGE