Bignonia Botanical Specimen
Bignonia (now called Tecoma stans) Botanical Specimen
Mid-19th century
Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley
The Old Manse Manuscripts, 1755-1938, The Trustees
Concord, MA
One of the more delicate and beautiful manuscript collections at The Trustees is a set of nearly 150 dried botanical specimens. The carefully pressed leaves, stems and flowers represent both native and non-native species of plants. Although we do not know who originally collected the specimens, as some of the plants grew far from Concord, MA, all were a part of Sarah Bradford Ripley’s personal library at The Old Manse. Sarah Bradford Ripley (1793-1867) lived at The Old Manse from 1846 until her death in 1867. A scholar, Sarah Bradford Ripley was a teacher who read numerous languages, including Latin, Greek, German, French, Italian, and Spanish, maintained an extensive library, entertained a great number of intellectual visitors and tutored students out of her home at The Manse.
Another plant-related collection at The Trustees is the S. Waldo Bailey negative collection containing nearly 1,000 glass plate negatives, plastic negatives, and glass lantern slides taken between 1898-1961 of the diverse flora and fauna in and around the Berkshire Mountains and The Trustees Bartholomew’s Cobble property.
