Romeyn Beck Hough
Romeyn Beck Hough[
Life and work
Hough acquired an interest in forestry and natural history from his father, Franklin B. Hough, a physician and botanist, who spent much time with his son in the outdoors. He attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and studied medicine, later qualifying as a physician like his father. His passion however, was for botany.[1]
Hough developed a specialized veneer cutter capable of slicing wood to a thickness of 1⁄1200 inch (0.021 mm). He started a business cutting and printing flexible, translucent wooden cards "for all fancy and business purposes", and also sold magic lantern and microscope slides made from the thinnest transverse sections.[2][3]
After seeing German botanist
The first volume of American Woods, focusing upon trees of Hough's native New York, was available by subscription for five dollars.[2] Hough had originally planned to publish fifteen volumes, which would include samples of all of the important trees found in North America, but he died in 1924 before the full set was completed. A final, fourteenth volume was published in 1928 using samples and notes made by Hough that were compiled by his daughter, Marjorie Galloway Hough. In total, each volume contained at least 25 plates and the complete 14-volume collection comprises 1,056 slices representing 354 tree species.[4]
Recognition
Hough's botanical work was widely acclaimed in his time. In 1908 he won the
Reviews of American Woods described it as "one of the most valuable contributions to the literature of forestry" and "absolutely without rival".
For antiquarian booksellers American Woods is "one of the most sought-after sets of the 20th century". In 2000 art auction house Christie's sold a complete set for $92,100.[4]
Bibliography
Digitized copies of Hough's work are available at archive.org.
- Handbook of the trees of the northern states and Canada east of the Rocky Mountains, photo-descriptive (1907)
- The American Woods: exhibited by actual specimens and with copious explanatory text
|
References
- PMID 17750733.
- ^ a b c Codex 99
- ^ US Pat. 335703 Patent application for "Wooden card for business and other purposes". February 9, 1886.
- ^ doi:10.5062/F4TD9V7K.
- ^ Pigza, Jessica (March 12, 2012). "Hough's American Woods". New York Public Library. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
- ^ "For the love of trees". Taschen. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Hough.
External links
- Stevenson, Brian. "Romeyn Beck Hough, 1857-1924"