The Acquisitions Table: The Flower People

Mann, Mary Peabody.  The Flower People. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co., 1875.

First published in the early 1840’s, Mary Peabody Mann’s The Flower People introduced the study of botany to children under the guise of conversations between a girl named Mary and various plants.  In this case, Mary is speaking to a leaf that she picked on a fall day.  The leaf patiently explains the life cycle of a tree, and its place in the ecosystem—a very early work of its kind written for children.  This exquisite photo-mechanically printed plate was designed for this edition by the elusive woman artist Mrs. G.P. Lathrop.

Published by

Laura Wasowicz

Curator of Children's Literature, American Antiquarian Society

2 thoughts on “The Acquisitions Table: The Flower People”

    1. Dear Ms. Finch,

      Thanks so much for the comment. It is conceivable that Mrs. G.P. Lathrop could be Rose Hawthorne Lathrop. I checked, and discovered that Rose married George Parsons Lathrop in 1871, so she would have been “Mrs. G.P. Lathrop” in 1875. Her aunt Mary Peabody Mann wrote The Flower People.

      Laura Wasowicz

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