James Smithson, after whom the Smithsonian Institution is named, was a rock hound.
This 1820 manuscript, in his hand, is an inventory describing the collection he kept in a mahogany cabinet. At the top, Smithson has written, Catalogue of my Cabinet: 1820 before commencing to list his rocks and minerals pyrites, green micaceous stone from Switzerland, bog iron ore, etc.
The incredible document, almost certainly the only one in private hands says bookseller Nathan Raab of the Raab Collection, was recently deaccessioned from a New Jersey institution and is now for sale for $75,000. Prior to its NJ residency, the manuscript had been owned by William Jones Rhees, the Smithsonian s chief clerk from 1852 until the early 1890s.
Vadim Kaipov/Unsplash
Very few houseplant buyers, who are mostly aged in their 20s and 30s, seem to be as aware of peat as a finite resource as they are of fossil fuels. But when showing off their green lifestyle on Instagram (to date there are 11.5 million house/indoor plants hashtag posts), few houseplant-aholics realise there is an elephant in the room: the vast majority of houseplants are grown in peat, a nutritious soil-like substance formed from decayed organic matter over time. The mining of peat is now widely condemned as unsustainable, environment-wrecking and carbon-emitting. Like coal or oil, it is effectively a finite resource. It does regenerate, but only forms at a rate of 1mm annually.
The dark side of our houseplant obsession
The horticultural equivalent of fast fashion, there s an environment-wrecking problem with houseplants you may not know about
3 May 2021 • 5:00am
Houseplant sales have boomed recently, but the peat issue is yet to cut through
Credit: GAP Interiors/Alessandro Guimaraes
For many millennial “plant parents”, house plants are pets to be loved and cherished. But when showing off their green lifestyle on Instagram (to date there are 11.5 million house/indoor plants hashtag posts), few houseplant-aholics realise there is an elephant in the room: the vast majority of houseplants are grown in peat, a nutritious soil-like substance formed from decayed organic matter over time.
Book review: Hunt for History shows the value of physical contact with our past fredericksburg.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fredericksburg.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Conversation with Nathan Raab, 5 p.m., via Zoom. Interactive conversation about “The Hunt for History.” Registration required at l ewes.lib.de.us on Virtual Programs for Adults page. Instructions emailed to participants following registration.