Charles Edward Faxon (January 21, 1846 – February 6, 1918) was an American

botanical artist Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species. They are generally meant to be scientifically descriptive about subjects depicted and are often found printed alongside a botanical description in boo ...

and instructor of

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

born in

Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Roxbury. The community seceded from Roxbur ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. In 1867 he received his degree in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

from

Lawrence Scientific School The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) is the engineering education, engineering school within Harvard University's Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, offering degrees in eng ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. From 1879 to 1884, he taught classes in botany at the

Bussey Institute The Bussey Institute (1883–1936) was a respected biological institute at Harvard University. It was named for Benjamin Bussey, who, in 1835, endowed the establishment of an undergraduate school of agriculture and horticulture and donated land i ...

. Faxon was knowledgeable in regards to the flora of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, and in 1882 joined the staff at the

Arnold Arboretum The Arnold Arboretum is a botanical research institution and free public park affiliated with Harvard University and located in the Jamaica Plain and Roslindale, Massachusetts, Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston. Established in 1872, it is the ...

. Here he took charge of development of the

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

and

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

. He worked closely with

Charles Sprague Sargent Charles Sprague Sargent (April 24, 1841March 22, 1927) was an American botanist. He was appointed in 1872 as the first director of Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts, and held the post until his death. He published se ...

(1841–1927), the director of the

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

Publications

Faxon created 744 plates for illustration of Sargent's "Silva of North America". In addition to these drawings, he provided the illustrative work for the following publications by Sargent: * "Manual of the Trees of North America (exclusive of Mexico)", (664 illustrations). * "Garden and Forest", (285 illustrations). * "Forest Flora of Japan", (1894). * "Trees and Shrubs: Illustrations of New Or Little Known Ligneous Plants", (1902–13).

References

External links

* *
Harvard University Library, Papers of Charles Edward Faxon, 1882–1918

Works by or about Charles Edward Faxon in the Biodiversity Heritage Library
American botanical illustrators Artists from Boston 1846 births 1918 deaths Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni Arnold Arboretum Harvard University staff 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters American botanists 19th-century American male artists People from Jamaica Plain 20th-century American male artists {{US-botanist-stub