3. Harry Bolus (1834–1911)—his life and botanical works.
The Cape Orchids commemorates the remarkable life and botanical works of
Dr Harry Bolus, businessman and distinguished amateur botanist, who
figures prominently in the field of South African botany.
Harry Bolus, born in Nottingham, England, described more Cape orchid species than anyone except the celebrated orchidologist John Lindley (1799-1865) at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Bolus was the leading figure in the study of Cape orchids from 1882 until his death in 1911. His The Orchids of the Cape Peninsula (1888—1st ed., 1918—2nd ed.) and Orchids of South Africa—Icones Orchidearum Austro-Africanarum Extra-tropicarum (1893-1896, 1911, 1913) were the first works that were fully illustrated and accessible to the general public, albeit a financially privileged minority. Bolus’ contribution was also significant in that it was the first time that herbarium studies of orchids actually took place in South Africa. During his long period of residence in Cape Town, Bolus described many new plant species and built up the Bolus Herbarium and its extensive associated library, now housed in the Botany Department at the University of Cape Town. Prior to this, specimens were shipped to Europe to be studied there.
Although the unassuming and humble Bolus was an amateur botanist, he became the foremost authority on South African orchids and ericas, thanks in part to his keen observational abilities and direct field experience of the Cape orchids, and his work has remained superior in all respects.
The fact that the young C. Louis Leipoldt’s medical studies in London were financed by Harry Bolus, ‘by way of a loan’, should also not go unrecorded. Indeed, Harry Bolus was not only gifted in his own right, but was also generous in his care for others, and a friend and/or mentor to several other young or contemporary botanists.
Accompanied by his niece, Louisa Kensit [later Louisa Bolus], Bolus was residing with his friend Mr Shipton, a London banker, during a visit to England in May 1911 to supervise the printing of Icones Orchidearum Austro-Africanum vol. II, when, at the age of 77, he suffered a sudden fatal heart-attack. He had just completed checking the proofs of his book when he died (see pastel drawing of “Mr Shipton’s Study”).
Harry Bolus, born in Nottingham, England, described more Cape orchid species than anyone except the celebrated orchidologist John Lindley (1799-1865) at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Bolus was the leading figure in the study of Cape orchids from 1882 until his death in 1911. His The Orchids of the Cape Peninsula (1888—1st ed., 1918—2nd ed.) and Orchids of South Africa—Icones Orchidearum Austro-Africanarum Extra-tropicarum (1893-1896, 1911, 1913) were the first works that were fully illustrated and accessible to the general public, albeit a financially privileged minority. Bolus’ contribution was also significant in that it was the first time that herbarium studies of orchids actually took place in South Africa. During his long period of residence in Cape Town, Bolus described many new plant species and built up the Bolus Herbarium and its extensive associated library, now housed in the Botany Department at the University of Cape Town. Prior to this, specimens were shipped to Europe to be studied there.
Although the unassuming and humble Bolus was an amateur botanist, he became the foremost authority on South African orchids and ericas, thanks in part to his keen observational abilities and direct field experience of the Cape orchids, and his work has remained superior in all respects.
The fact that the young C. Louis Leipoldt’s medical studies in London were financed by Harry Bolus, ‘by way of a loan’, should also not go unrecorded. Indeed, Harry Bolus was not only gifted in his own right, but was also generous in his care for others, and a friend and/or mentor to several other young or contemporary botanists.
Accompanied by his niece, Louisa Kensit [later Louisa Bolus], Bolus was residing with his friend Mr Shipton, a London banker, during a visit to England in May 1911 to supervise the printing of Icones Orchidearum Austro-Africanum vol. II, when, at the age of 77, he suffered a sudden fatal heart-attack. He had just completed checking the proofs of his book when he died (see pastel drawing of “Mr Shipton’s Study”).
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| Dr Harry Bolus, London, circa 1909. |
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| Mr Shipton’s Study, Oxted, Surrey (completed about May 27, 1911); this pastel drawing by Arthur Hughes (1832-1915), an eminent English painter and popular book illustrator associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, depicts the study where Harry Bolus died on 25 May 1911, after checking the final proofs of his book, Icones Orchidearum Austro-Africanum, vol. II. (courtesy of J.P. Rourke) |
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| Bolus’ orchid volumes and ephemera: The Orchids of the Cape Peninsula (1888 - 1st ed., Bolus’s personal working copy; 1918 - 2nd ed.), Orchids of South Africa - Icones Orchidearum Austro-Africanarum Extra-tropicarum, vols. 1 pt. 1 (1893); 1 pt. 2 (1896), vol. 2 (1911) and vol. 3 (1913). |
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Disperis paludosa placed upon Harry Bolus’s illustration of this species in The Orchids of the Cape Peninsula. |
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Lithograph of Disa elegans and monkey beetle (Petrichia sp.); H. Bolus, South African Orchids vol. I (1893): Tab. 35. |
