Maria Martin

Illustration of Coluber elapsoides by Maria Martin as published in North American herpetology[1]

Maria Martin Bachman (3 July 1796 – 27 December 1863)[2] of Charleston, South Carolina, USA, was a watercolor painter and scientific illustrator. She contributed many of the background paintings for John James Audubon's The Birds of America (1831–39) and Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America (1845–48).[3]

Biography

Maria Martin was born in 1796 to Rebecca Solars and Jacob Martin.

As an adult, she lived in Charleston, South Carolina with her ailing sister Harriet Martin Bachman, her brother-in-law Reverend John Bachman, and their 14 children. Martin managed the household and helped educate the children. She married John Bachman in 1849 after her sister's death.[4]

Reverend Bachman was a Lutheran pastor and naturalist.[5] Martin went with him on field excursions, including one trip to Niagara Falls, and learned how to make scientific descriptions and drawings of plants and animals.[6] In the 1830s Audubon was a guest at the Bachman household during a trip to study bird species in the South. During his stay, Audubon encouraged Maria in her drawing and tutored her in natural illustration.[7]

Audubon went on to ask Martin to assist with paintings for his definitive book The Birds of America. Over the course of five years, Martin assisted on volumes 2 and 4 the book. She was not paid for this work.[4] Audubon credited Martin with nine illustrations, but it is thought that she contributed to at least 30.[8] Martin also provided illustrations to John Edwards Holbrook for publication in his work North American Herpetology.

John J. Audubon named a variety of the hairy woodpecker (Picus martinae) Maria's Woodpecker, in Martin's honor.[5] Her work is in the collections of the New York Historical Society and the Charleston Museum.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Edwards,, Holbrook, John; S.,, Cichowski,; S, Duval, Peter; S.,, Duval, Peter; J.,, Sera,; Lithrs,, Lehman & Duval (30 September 2018). "North American herpetology, or, A description of the reptiles inhabiting the United States /". biodiversitylibrary.org. v.2 (1838).
  2. ↑ James, Edward T., ed. (1974). Notable American Women, 1607–1950 : A Biographical Dictionary. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 505. ISBN 0674627342.
  3. ↑ Bailey, Martha J. (1994). American Women in Science:A Biographical Dictionary. ABC-CLIO, Inc. ISBN 0-87436-740-9.
  4. 1 2 Rubinstein, Charlotte Streifer (1982). American Women Artists. Boston MA: G.K. Hall & Co. p. 67.
  5. 1 2 3 "Martin, Maria - South Carolina Encyclopedia". South Carolina Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
  6. ↑ Shuler, Jay (1995). Had I the Wings: The Friendship of Bachman and Audubon. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820317052.
  7. ↑ Kohlstedt, Sally Gregory (1984). Arnold, Lois Barber, ed. "Scientific Educations". Science. 224 (4650): 728–729. doi:10.2307/1692836. JSTOR 1692836.
  8. ↑ "Meet Audubon's Assistant Painter: Maria Martin Bachman | Behind The Scenes". Behind The Scenes. 2015-04-10. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
  • "Martin, Maria". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Accessed 7 March 2007
  • "Martin, Maria." Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Charles Reagan Wilson and William Ferris, eds. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989.

Further reading

  • Bachman, C.L., ed. John Bachman D.D.
  • Bannon, L.E., Handbook of Audubon Prints. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Co., Inc., 1980.
  • Bonta, M.M., Women in the Field: America's Pioneering Women Naturalists. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1991, Chapter 2, Maria Martin: Audubon's Sweetheart.
  • Coffin, Annie Roulhac, New York Historical Society Quarterly (January 1965)
  • Corning, Howard, ed. Letters of John James Audubon, 1826-1840. 1930.
  • Ford, A., John James Audubon: A Biography. New York: Abbeville Press, 1988.
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