In 2018 the Stellenbosch University Library and Information Services launched the digitised collection of the original botanical illustrations, prepared for printing between 1912 and 1932 in Rudolf Marloth’s Flora of South Africa, as part of SUNDigital Collections.

This collection is also supported by a number of personal documents, correspondence, photographs, dairies, and articles.

The digital images in this collection are used by Visual Arts researchers for research on botanical artists such as Ethel May Dixie (1876-1973), Esther Smith (1878-1954), Florence Amy Thwaits, and Peter McManus.

Other disciplines that make use of the digitised Marloth Collection are Plant Science and Zoology.  Although the focus of this collection is on the plants, questions on the location, climate, habitat of the plants and their pollinators can also be searched.

Look at the different flies, butterflies, and birds on these plates (please click on the thumbnail to view the full image):

   

More information on this collection is available at:

http://digital.lib.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.2/14646

https://blogs.sun.ac.za/sunscholar/2018/08/24/marloth-digital-collection/

Authors: Special Collections staff