Drawing From Nature: The Botanical Drawings of Eileen Barnes

Congratulations to Rebecca Cairns from Royal Irish Academy whose blog post has achieved third place in the CONUL Training and Development Library Assistant Blog Awards 2025.

Botanical illustrations have long been used to help us classify and identify plants. Depictions of flora in herbals and florilegia from the 16th century onwards allowed the two previously distinct and separate fields of art and science to be bridged. The art of natural history and botanical illustration would continue to evolve significantly between the 17th-18th centuries, allowing for further ease in understanding the structure and visual characteristics of plants. Many talented women artists actively contributed to this field, but they were seldom credited or acknowledged for their work. The Dublin-born Eileen Barnes (1876-1956)—who was a fastidious artist and talented model-maker—was one such woman.

Image 1: Drawing 77 (c): S dasyphyllum Linn (left); S. dasyphyllum var. Suendermanni Praeger (right) (RIA Praeger Collection, Box 2a/64/1-78 b)

After attending the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (now the National College of Art and Design) between 1888-89, Barnes would go on to produce drawings of objects and construct museum models for the Natural History, Art, and Antiquities divisions in what is now known as the National Museum of Ireland (NMI). There is an early record of her donating a set of model platypus eggs to the museum in 1907 – suggesting that she was being commissioned to create work for the museum without being formally employed. Her name begins to appear intermittently on the museum’s employment registers from 1911 onwards, with her rank as a ‘specimen mounter’ first noted in 1918. Her earlier models include wax depictions of various mollusca, many of which are still on display in the Natural History Museum in Dublin.

Image 2: One of Eileen Barnes’ model slugs from the National Museum of Ireland’s collections (NMINH:2008.92.507); image courtesy of The National Museum of Ireland 

While Barnes was immensely skilled in producing models that bore a remarkable resemblance to live subjects, she also collaborated with other well-known scientists and naturalists and produced illustrations for their works. She worked with the lichenologist Matilda Knowles, biologist and ornithologist Annie Massy, and the naturalist Robert Praeger, MRIA.  

Praeger was especially reliant on Barnes for creating accurate drawings of Sedum (stonecrop) and Sempervivum (houseleeks) for his published works. Praeger found Sedum to be a particularly difficult plant to work with, as specimens do not dry well and often lose their leaves in the process of being prepared, making them ‘almost useless for comparison with the living plants, and identification is rendered correspondingly difficult’ (Praeger, 2). Barnes would thus draw the plants from Praeger’s live collected specimens, using a hand lens to complete her magnifications. Due to the difficulty of preserving these plants for the herbarium, and a lack of adequate existing herbarium material, these drawings by Barnes hold great value for researchers due to their likeness to the live plants.  

Barnes created approximately 300 drawings for Praeger’s publications on Sedum and Sempervivum. The RIA holds 186 of these original drawings, making up a small part of Praeger’s larger collection, which also includes journals, offprints, manuscripts, photographs, and other materials.

Image 3: Drawing 57:  S. Cockerellii Britton (left); S. Wrightii A. Gray (centre); S. lenophylloides Rose (right) (RIA Praeger Collection, Box 2a/64/1-78 b)
Image 4: Drawing 36 (left): S. verticillatum Linn (RIA Praeger Collection, Box 2a/64/1-78 b) 
Image 5: Drawing 38 (right): S. Ewersii Ledeb. var. homophyllum nov. (RIA Praeger Collection, Box 2a/64/1-78 b) 

Image 6: Pages from Praeger’s work on Sedum; showing the above drawing by Barnes in the final publication (RIA MR/31/R/30) 

The unsigned preparatory drawings remain in good condition and show only minor signs of deterioration. They have various cutouts adhered to them, showing curious additions of details, magnifications and different views of each plant. Rough notes are penciled onto some drawings which mention the species’ name and intended placement of the works for Praeger’s final book. These works provide insight into how illustrations were produced and edited in advance of preparing plates for printing. 

 

Outside of the seventeen-year collaboration with Praeger, Barnes did not receive much further recognition after his works on Sedum and Sempervivum had been published in 1932. There seems to only be a few mentions of her name until she was listed as a “botanic artist” in the 1976 edition of Capuchin Annual. 

Eileen Barnes’ drawings highlight an important collaboration and clearly demonstrate the exchange of knowledge between the field of visual arts and scientific inquiry. Moreover, the work of Barnes, which is quietly tucked away within Praeger’s larger collection, is a testament to the importance of amplifying the work of women artists and their archives.

References:  

 

Gallagher, Niav. “Barnes, Eileen Elizabeth Janet.” Dictionary of Irish Biography, April 2024, https://www.dib.ie/biography/barnes-eileen-elizabeth-janet-a10351. 

Lucy, John. “Eileen Barnes (1876-1956): the contribution of a gifted artist, scientific illustrator and model-maker to Irish natural history.” The Irish Naturalists' Journal, vol. 34, no. 2 (9 October 2015): pp. 113-124. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/44577796.pdf. 

 

Nelson, Charles E. “Robert Lloyd Praeger’s Crassulaceae: a commentary on possible type specimens in the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin, and on illustrations in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.” Bradleya, vol. 11, no. 11, Feb. 1993, pp. 91-106.  

 

Praeger, Robert. “An Account of the Genus Sedum as Found in Cultivation.” Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, vol. 46, 1921, pp. 1-314. 

Scannell, Maura. “A work of special value.” In Stars, Shells and Bluebells: Women Scientists and pioneers. Dublin Women in Technology and Science, 1997. 

⸻. “Botanic Art and Some Irish Artists.” The Capuchin Annual 1976, pp. 100-111. 

 

* All images were produced by the Royal Irish Academy, with the exception of the image of the model slug, which was provided by the National Museum of Ireland.  

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Leganto

Congratulations to Alana Mahon O'Neill from DCU Library whose blog post has achieved second place in the CONUL Training and Development Library Assistant Blog Awards 2025. 

I started working with the reading list application Leganto on the eve of teaching week, August 2024, at Dublin City University Library. Joining the project, I expected a roadmap. Instead, I got an adventure.

Leganto logo via Exlibris

I was handed three oversized workflow pages and a clutch of working Google Docs. Here I go, Theseus¹ entering Daedalus’ labyrinth.² From the outset I encountered muddling back-to-back requests for obscure Victorian children’s stories, history pamphlets published by county council offices circa 2006, and TG4 documentaries verging upon lost media. Broken website links were parsed with liberal use of the Wayback Machine, and multiple-user licenses were purchased for ebooks serving cohorts of several hundred students. Negotiations with academic lecturers ensued. Through heart-to-hearts with Subject Librarians and parlaying with the cataloguing department, I quickly discovered how a reading list ties together the foundations of a university library.

Mosaic depicting a labyrinth with Theseus and Minotaur emblem, from "House of the Labyrinth", Pompeii, Italy. Photographed and edited by Volker Michael Stroka and published in 1991 Hauser in Pompeii Volume 4 Casa del Labirinto (VI 11 8-10) via Wikimedia Commons. 

Leganto is an ever-shifting maze of developments and interface changes that induces a feeling akin to Jorge Luis Borges’ The Library of Babel.³ While the workflow is mapped by a set shape, the off-shooting paths feel like shifting sands. Walls slip, and the exit evades. Now, to get out. How do we manage purchase requests? Digital content store items? Out-of-print books? Why does it feel like whenever I narrow down a workflow, I need to go back and rewrite it all over again?

Reading list submissions for 2024-2025, from July 2024 to November 2024, peaking in August and September. Data and picture credit: author. 

These were the sort of questions I asked myself while I completed 51 reading lists for Semester 1 last year. Was I on top of things? No time. Here comes January. Go.

A little backstory–Leganto is a reading list application, part of the Ex Libris package. We invite lecturers to submit their reading lists so that it streamlines the ordering process for materials on the library side, while ensuring reading content is available and accessible. As the library can feel like a daunting place for incoming students, we try to meet them halfway, so that they do not get lost in the abyss.

Reading list numbers in total per university faculty. Data and picture credit: author. 

Daedalus⁴ , master of the labyrinth and careful design, would feel at home among the reading lists of Science and Health, where structure and references reign.

Humanities follows close behind.

Once we identify key texts, we streamline access from Leganto straight to the library catalogue, all with one click. This benefits us as it ensures library longevity, boosts the quality of our collections, and encourages student engagement. For lecturers, they can view student analytics that inform engagement and popular texts. For students, it makes life a little easier.

Our largest issue stems from content outside the collection–we cannot always catch broken links, and copyright-restricted material is not permitted. The way we work around this is by encouraging the “report broken link” button for students and ordering requested material for our lecturers. Even so, a completed reading list is deceptively simple. For a student, this is both their entrance into the underworld of research and a gateway into soon-to-be endless possibilities. I just hope that they slay their Minotaur by proxy of completing their academic journey and make it through to the other side.

How do we progress with this?

With rolled-over lists, we see the volume of incoming lists slow down, but we gain a bit more insight into what quality, high-demand resources are needed. Saying that, while popularity is key, we always try to get the latest edition and fresh material that will support our students.

What have I learned?

While I do not possess Ariadne's thread,⁵ used by Theseus to escape the labyrinth, I had the guiding principle⁶—move forward, but reflect. When encountering an issue, refer back to what worked and start again. We all use this methodology in creative problem-solving.

Illustration from the cover of Higgins, C. Red Thread (2018) by Charlotte Higgins via The Irish Times

Have I come to love Leganto?

Contrary to popular belief, I don’t see human beings and library software forming connections anytime soon. Saying that, after one year with Leganto, we have become reluctant friends. Somewhat. The application is ever changing, and our workflow has been rejigged several times since inception. Our next step is for near-total lecturer participation–easier said than done. I am making some YouTube videos. Fingers crossed.

My role is not over. Like Sisyphus, I roll the boulder to the top–only to let it drop with each new reading list. There is no thread uncut. We follow a workflow, place requests and organise lists. Even with academic immersion, we plan to monitor input and manage orders for the latest materials. I am through the labyrinth, but the thread must be maintained. I have done my part. Last year, I completed 83 reading lists.

This month: 22, alone. September is around the corner, and one must imagine Sisyphus happy⁷. 

Come, take a thread. Let’s go.

Footnotes

¹ King of Athens, Theseus in his youth travelled to Crete and killed the Minotaur. He escaped from the Labyrinth in which it was kept with the help of a thread given him by King Minos’ daughter Ariadne (Kearns et al., 2014).

² Daedalus’ labyrinth was designed to trap the beast, the Minotaur. It is the original labyrinth of classical mythology (Ferber, 2007).

³ A short story by Borges detailing a labyrinth library of interlocking rooms containing all possible text in existence (Borges, 1941). A web version has also been created.

⁴ Daedalus, creator of the labyrinth, was a renowned craftsman (Cotterell, 1997).

⁵ Ariadne gave a thread to Theseus when entering the labyrinth (Leeming, 2005).

⁶ There is a logic used in computers and puzzle solving called “Ariadne’s thread” that is derived from the myth. In short, it involves tracing back steps and finding any and all solutions (Mepham, 2005).

⁷ This philosophy, derived from the myth of Sisyphus, suggests that in order for one to live, one must find meaning and fulfilment even when confronting obstacles (Camus, 1941).

References

Borges, J.L. (1941) The Library of Babel.

Camus, A. (1941). The Myth of Sisyphus.

Cotterell, A. (1997). Daedalus. In A Dictionary of World Mythology. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 31 July 2025, from https://www-oxfordreference-com.dcu.idm.oclc.org/view/10.1093/acref/97801921774 76.001.0001/acref-9780192177476-e-200

Ferber, M. (2007). Labyrinth. In Ferber, M. A dictionary of literary symbols (pp. 106-107). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 29 July 2025 from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dcu/reader.action?docID=326009&ppg=119&c=UERG

Kearns, Emily, and Karim W. Arafat. (2014). Theseus. In The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 July 2025 from https://www-oxfordreference-com.dcu.idm.oclc.org/view/10.1093/acref/97801987067 79.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-623

Leeming, D. (2005). Ariadne. In The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 July 2025, from https://www-oxfordreference-com.dcu.idm.oclc.org/view/10.1093/acref/97801951566 90.001.0001/acref-9780195156690-e-134.

Mepham, M. (2005). Solving Sodoku. Crosswords Ltd. [Guide]. Retrieved 31 July 2025, from https://www.sudoku.org.uk/PDF/Solving_Sudoku.pdf

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Shells, Shorthand, and Skipping Classes: Documenting Prize Bookplates in the John Manning Collection of Children’s Books

Libfocus is delighted to present the winning post for the CONUL Training and Development Library Assistant Blog Awards 2025. The winning author is Claire Dunne who is a Library Assistant in UCD Library.

Growing up, I could never understand why my mother made me sign my books. “Just sign it” she’d say, pushing a pen into my hand, “and don’t forget the date!” Now as an adult, and especially one who works with old books, I see the value in this and how it can give a book its own story beyond the words on its pages. In the cultural heritage profession this is known as “provenance”; the story of an item, how it came to be here and who might have owned it in the past. 

In UCD Special Collections we look after many books with important provenance. Books signed by James Joyce? We got ‘em. 400-year-old tomes delicately annotated by priestly scholars? We got ‘em. Modern works of art with the signature of the artist? We’ve got those too. But sometimes it isn’t the prestigious origins or famous names that catch your attention. Rather it is the casual note of the ordinary person now forgotten to time, or the scribbles of a child, made 100 years ago but somehow still familiar. It was this sense of the ordinary person, and the desire to highlight their importance, that inspired the latest work on the John Manning collection of children’s books in UCD Special Collections.

Figure 1: Three colourful books from the John Manning Collection (45.0.14), (45.J.1c), (45.U.12), UCD Special Collections. 

John Manning was an avid collector of 19th and early 20th century children’s books and in the 1970s he generously donated his collection to UCD Special Collections. These shelves are now some of the most colourful in the storeroom. They tell stories of adventures and wonder, and open a window to childhood in the Victorian era. For this reason, they are important sources of social history during this period.

Figure 2: Books in the John Manning Collection on the storeroom shelves, UCD Special Collections.

Many of these books were gifted to children as prize books. This was the custom of awarding books, often for academic merit, with a dedicated bookplate commemorating the achievement. The presence of these bookplates, however, was not previously recorded on the UCD Library catalogue, which is the main way that our visitors find out about our collections. This wasn’t too surprising because despite the current recognition of the importance of provenance, traditionally this wasn’t something that was included on a library catalogue. Keeping our catalogue up to date with retrospective edits and additions is an important part of our job in Special Collections.

And so, we set about documenting these enigmatic bookplates so that they can be discovered and researched.

Figure 3: Book awarded to Mary Alice Boyd, 1883, (45.R.11), UCD Special Collections.

Step one: find the bookplates. Just like one of the treasure hunters in Edith Nesbit’s The Story of the Treasure Seekers, we opened each and every one of the books in the Collection. Opening the cover and finding a prize bookplate was like unearthing a little piece of history that had been forgotten until now.

Figure 4: Four prize bookplates. Top left: (45.H.1). Top right: (45.J.1c). Bottom left: (45.L.15). Bottom right: (45.C.17), UCD Special Collections. 

The next step was updating the records on the library catalogue. Cataloguing Special Collections books is a technical skill that requires the use of standardised language and formats. We decided to use three specific fields on the record, one to identify the book as being part of the Collection, another to detail any provenance information, and a final one that notes it as a prize book. By describing the books this way it allows users to easily find and cross reference them. Here’s what it looks like on the online catalogue:

Figure 5: Partial catalogue entry and images of (45.L.10), UCD Special Collections. 

It quickly became clear that we had more prize bookplates than we anticipated and some from much further afield than we thought too. We also discovered that some books had been missed when initially catalogued many years ago. About 50 books that were uncatalogued have now been recorded and this 'hidden' collection uncovered.

Figure 6: Prize bookplate in French (45.C.20), and prize bookplate from Edinburgh (45.H.17), UCD Special Collections.

The bookplates come in all shapes and sizes, from very simple to elaborate and colourful.

Figure 7: Three prize bookplates in different styles. Top: (45.D.25). Bottom left: (45.H.18). Bottom right: (45.J.14), UCD Special Collections. 

Many prize books were awarded for excellence in religious studies, others for practical skills like art, and shorthand. One charming example was awarded for collecting shells.

Figure 8: Prize bookplate awarded to John Stevenson for collecting shells, (45.G.3), UCD Special Collections

But it seems not all books were presented for merit, as the inscription below suggests!

Figure 9: Prize book inscription reading, "Harold Simpson was awarded this prize for being in late every morning in the year." (45.0.14), UCD Special Collections. 

Finally, old book flags that had become old and worn were replaced with new versions, and books that had become fragile were carefully wrapped with acid-free cotton ties.

Figure 10: Top: Old book flags ready for the recycling bin. Below: New book flags on the shelves. UCD Special Collections.  

In total, 67 prize bookplates were identified, each with its own story to tell. Beyond their historical value, these bookplates hold a special sort of emotional resonance, perhaps because they once belonged to a child, or maybe because they capture a snapshot in not only our own social history, but the history of an individual. One of the most endearing discoveries was uncovered in The Worst House at Sherborough by Desmond Coke. The inscription, in Latin, reveals that this book was awarded to John Manning himself, at the age of 13. We hope that he would have enjoyed this project as much as we did.

Figure 11: Prize bookplate awarded to John Manning for scholastics, 1S20. (45.F.28), UCD Special Collections.

Find out more:

Almack, Edward. Bookplates (London: Methuen & Co., 1904), SC/R 097 ALM.

Ex Libris: Bookplates in UCD Special Collections, UCD Cultural Heritage Blog

John Manning Collection of Children’s Books, UCD Special Collections

Warren, John Byrne Leicester Warren (Lord de Tabley), A Guide to the Study of Book- Plates (Ex-Libris) (Manchester: Sherratt and Hughes, 1900), SC/R 097 DET.

Search the catalogue for these books and more at UCD Library here. Make an appointment to visit UCD Special Collections here. Have a prize bookplate of your own? Share it with us on Instagram.

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