Poetry and Manuscript Decoration Workshop

From our Local History Department archives, create and illustrate poems inspired by the beautiful manuscripts of Dundonian botanist William Gardiner. There will be the option to write our own poems, write out a favourite poem or one by Gardiner, and decorate them with coloured ink drawings on parchment.

William Gardiner, born in 1809, combined botany with poetry and was a part of a society that published the manuscript, The Botanical Repository. The publication presents notes on flora native to the Dundee area, combined with illustration and poetry. The manuscript decoration is ornate and demonstrates a lot of care for the subject. We will also look at Gardiner’s publications that include pressed plant preservations, which he discovered in Dundee.

This event is suitable for adults.

This event is supported by Book Week Scotland 2024 event funding.