Rare Chinese Herbarium

Further Chinese works from the Minnie Wright 1858 collection include unusual plant specimens collected at locations around Hangzhou, the southern terminus of the Grand Canal. Whilst extant plant samples from China during this period exist as part of collections compiled by travelling botanists, these rare examples were apparently collected by or for a young female, for whom the collecting of dried plants was likely a pastime and method of learning. Minnie Wright was most probably likely connected to the British community living in China around the main trade ports of the Yangtze Delta after the 1842 Treaty of Nanking.