Partage des connaissances

Date de naissance: 1862-05-16
Date de décès: 1940-04-21
Lieu de sépulture: Brookwood Cemetery, Trinidad
Sexe: female
Nationalité: UK
Lieu de naissance: Norwich, Norfolk, England, UK
Lieu du décès: Trinidad
Lieux de résidence: Norwich, Norfolk, England, UK (birthplace)
Professions: illustrator
traveller
diarist
natural historian
lepidopterist
travel writer
Courte biographie: Margaret Fountaine was the eldest of seven children born to an affluent English clergyman. Her mother was a domineering and conservative woman and Margaret sought every opportunity to escape from home. At age 27, she became financially independent through an inheritance from a paternal uncle. In 1895, after visiting Henry John Elwes, a noted botanist and entomologist, Margaret began her own serious butterfly collection. In 1901, she met Khalil Neimy, who became her companion and guide for 27 years. Her quest for new butterflies led Margaret to travel by air, sea, rail, and on horseback to six continents over 50 years. Her sketchbooks are preserved in the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London, and provide important insights into the life and work of this intrepid Victorian naturalist. Margaret Fountaine died of a heart attack in Trinidad while on a collecting trip.

Membres

Critiques

Butterflies and Late Loves: The Further Travels and… par Margaret Fountaine

Delightful sequel to 'Love Among the Butterflies' continuing the travels of the redoubtable Margaret Fountaine from 1913-1940. Edited with great care and sensitivity by W F Cater, the linking material is excellent, as are the memories of people who met Miss Fountaine in their youth.

Signalé

DramMan | 3 autres critiques | May 29, 2018 |

Love among the Butterflies: The Travels and… par Margaret Fountaine

I did enjoy this autobiographical account, derived from the diaries of Margaret Fountaine, though I believe she is very fortunate to have had W F Cater, of the Sunday Times, as Editor of her voluminous and by all accounts sometimes boring diaries. Miss Fountaine, for she never actually married, was a lady of independent means and a passionate lepidopderist (Butterfly collector), born in 1862. Blessed with indpendent means, for this purpose about £400 per year, travelled widely throughout her life, attracting many male admirers and quondam lovers along the way. Given the time period, her fortitude and determination deserve a certain admiration, though other more sympathetic character traits are hard to find in the text.… (plus d'informations)

Signalé

DramMan | 5 autres critiques | Apr 11, 2017 |

Butterflies and Late Loves: The Further Travels and… par Margaret Fountaine

Fascinating story of a Victorian lady traveling around the world catching butterflies, eggs and larvae and raising them to get perfect specimens. Often she traveled alone but sometimes met an entomologist in new territories. She came from a moneyed English family but she preferred the sunny climates instead of the damp cool weather of England. She traveled with a Syrian man off and on for 27 years but was not married. Fountaine's low morals pull down this naturalist's story taken from her diaries.… (plus d'informations)

Signalé

birdsmath | 3 autres critiques | Jan 25, 2013 |

Butterflies and Late Loves par Margaret Fountaine

A sequel to the wonderful (though short) [Love Among the Butterflies] and again we travel around the world with the ever intrepid Miss Fountaine. If you enjoyed the first book then it is simply a 'must' that you will need to read the sequel and you will not be disappointed. Miss Fountaine is not perfect (which of us is?) and from her comments about England you would think that it is perpetually cold and raining. It would seem that we English do indeed talk (or write about the weather) and Miss Fountaine best enjoyed hot tropical climes, which are definitely not to found in England (with the exception of Kew Gardens etc). So her visits 'home' are brief and fortunately for us the reader she is back on her travels.

I gave this book (like the previous one) only four and a half stars rather than five and again this is no reflection on my opinion of the superb Miss Fountaine but is a grievance against the brief length of the book - only 174 pages. The editor W.F. Cater does on the whole a good job, although occasionally I would have liked a little less of the editor's words and more of Miss Fountaine. I especially thought the chapter titled 'New Readers Start Here' was not required - why couldn't the new reader simply read the previous book?,

A book well worth reading of an intrepid woman who took the 20th century with all it's new inventions (e.g. Flying) in her stride. I was sorry the book had to end and intend to make a pilgrimage to the Castle Museum in Norwich in order to see some of her collection. Miss Fountaine I salute you.… (plus d'informations)