item details
H D Jackson; publisher; 1890; Nelson
Overview
Emily Cummings Harris emigrated from England to New Zealand with her family in 1840, and she studied art in Australia during the 1860s. After returning to New Zealand, she ran a small primary school in Nelson with her sisters, Frances and Ellen, and was also a private tutor, which often competed with her time as an artist and writer.
She actively exhibited her artworks and won several awards, including first prize at the New Zealand Industrial Exhibiton in Wellington in 1885. Working mostly in watercolour, Harris focused on botanical illustrations of New Zealand flowers and plants, but also produced artworks of birds, still lifes and landscapes.
New Zealand ferns is one of three books which she published in 1890, with the help of Nelson bookseller H. D. Jackson. Later that year, all three books were published in a single volume, Flowers, ferns and berries of New Zealand. Each book was illustrated with 12 full-page lithographs and descriptive texts, and some versions were hand-coloured by Harris herself, such as this example.
References:
Moira M. Long. 'Harris, Emily Cumming', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1993. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/2h15/harris-emily-cumming
Michele Leggott (lead researcher). 'Emily Cumming Harris in New Zealand and Australia', University of Auckland. https://emilycummingharris.blogs.auckland.ac.nz/