The Walker Local and Family History Center has some special books in our collection.
One of the most amazing is our 1771 printing of The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands by Mark Catesby, a naturalist who explored South Carolina from 1722 to 1726. This rare book is now on display at the Main Library.
Catesby's Journey
Mark Catesby, from eastern England, first visited America in 1712, staying in Williamsburg, Virginia and traveling up and down the James River collecting specimens and sketching local plants and animals. He returned to England in 1719, but he and other scientists were eager for him to return for a second voyage. With the backing of the Royal Society in London, from 1722 to 1726 Catesby traveled across South Carolina into coastal Georgia (then considered part of Florida), and the Bahamas collecting specimens, sketching flora and fauna, and making observations about our natural environment.
The specimens and sketches Catesby collected during his second American voyage were the basis for Catesby’s Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which was first published in sections between 1734 and 1747 and sold by subscription. After Catesby’s death, a compiled set of drawings was printed in 1754. In 1771, a third edition was printed as a 2-volume set. This 1771 edition also contained scientific names for the plants and animals, which had not yet been invented when Catesby first published his work. It is this 1771 printing that Richland Library holds in our special collections in the Walker Local & Family History Center.
The Natural History's Journey
Just like Mark Catesby’s journey itself, the path our book took from its printing to our library is a bit mysterious, circuitous, and driven by the curiosity of knowledge-lovers past and present. How did Richland Library get this fascinating book? Honestly, we aren’t sure. The book was printed on Fleet Street in London by Benjamin White in 1771. It was a popular item, and the South Carolina College had a copy as early as 1836.
Our library has had this 2-volume set of Natural History… since 1940 or earlier. We do not have a record of how we acquired it, but I am almost certain that it came from the efforts of Lucy Hampton Bostick and Fant H. Thornley, two book-lovers once employed at the library.
Lucy Hampton, later Lucy H. Bostick, became the head librarian at the Columbia Public Library in 1928 and immediately began a campaign to improve its collections and expand the library’s reach across the County. She was a forceful woman, leading several organizations while also serving as head of the library as it transitioned into the Richland County Public Library.
Fant Hill Thornley, 1930 yearbook Presbyterian College. Image from Ancestry Library Edition.
In 1934, bookish, intelligent, and history-obsessed Fant H. Thornley of Clinton joined the Richland County Public Library, as it was then known, as a reference librarian. While both working at the library, Bostick and Thornley forged a friendship and professional relationship surrounding a shared love of fine books that would last the rest of their lives.
Bostick & Thornley
In 1938, Lucy Bostick and Fant Thornley launched the Bostick & Thornley publishing company. They ultimately produced 13 high-quality books about South Carolina, including a fine reprint of the 1825 Mill’s Atlas of South Carolina.
Title page of The Early Ironwork of Charleston by Alston Deas. Published by Bostick & Thornley, Columbia, S.C. 1941
This love of fine books is also evidenced by records from the Richland County Public Library Board of Trustees meeting minutes which state that, in 1937, Fant Thornley was sent by Mrs. Bostick to Savannah to purchase books from Read and Co. for the library’s collection. Traveling all the way to Savannah was most likely only done for special books. Like, our Catesby perhaps? In 1940, an article in The State described that the Richland County Public Library owned a rare volume by Mark Catesby along with other works by or about South Carolina which were placed together in a “South Caroliniana” room within the building at 1400 Sumter Street. Other newspaper articles indicate that Thornley would periodically take Catesby’s Natural History… to local meetings of garden clubs or civic groups as part of a show-and-tell. There was great interest in early naturalists in South Carolina, and Thornley was a sought-after showman.
However, Thornley had either personal or political leanings that displeased some business owners in Columbia and sadly he was pressured to leave the library in 1949. But our loss was Birmingham, Alabama’s gain. He moved there and became the reference librarian and then director of the Birmingham Public Library until his retirement in 1969. That same year, Thornley returned to the library in Columbia to attend the unveiling of a commemorative portrait and plaque honoring Lucy Hampton Bostick (which he had anonymously paid for). Bostick had died the previous year after serving the library for 40 years. I wonder if Thornley visited the South Caroliniana room or the Mark Catesby volumes then? They were tucked away at that time, rarely under public view.
Thornley died in 1970, and upon his death he was honored for his many contributions to Alabama libraries. Thornley's family donated his rare and beautiful personal collection of books about South Carolina to the Richland County Public Library. I wasn't surprised to find that one of these books from the Fant H. Thornley collection bares a lively personal inscription from South Carolina's only Pulitzer Prize winning author, Julia Peterkin. In the end, both Lucy Hampton Bostick and Fant H. Thornley dedicated their lives to good books and good libraries.
There is no one left to inquire about the acquisition of the Catesby now. Happily, it is still here for us to enjoy! It is currently on display in the Walker Local & Family History Center. We will turn the pages monthly for a fresh look at some old and beautiful images of our South Carolina flora and fauna. Stop by for a visit and see which page is on display.
Learn More
You can learn more about Mark Catesby and his expedition at the links below. And you can view the entire 1771 edition of The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands in the University of North Carolina digital library.
Catesby's Birds of Colonial America
The Curious Mister Catesby
Bird
