Botany on a plate. Pleasure and the power of pictures in promoting early nineteenth-century scientific knowledge

Abstract

In early nineteenth-century Britain the use of pictures in introducing novices to the study of science was contentious, leading to debates over the ways in which words and images constituted knowledge and over the role of pleasure in intellectual pursuits. While recent studies have stressed visual representation as a critical element of science and considered its relation to the written word in conveying information, this essay explores the nineteenth-century preoccupation with the mind and mental faculties in relation to corporeal responses to explain concerns over the role of images and the process of recognition. By considering illustration in this way, it argues that popular botany was defined by many expert naturalists as the means by which private individuals could best be encouraged to extend their aesthetic appreciation and love of plants to an active and participatory pursuit of science.