Margaret Ursula Mee (nee Brown) (1909- 1988) was born near Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England on 22 May 1909. Her early education was influenced by a maternal aunt, who was an illustrator of children's books. Shortly after World War II, she began to study art in a serious way. She attended classes at St. Martin's School of Art in London, where she also met her second husband, Greville Mee. The portfolio that she assembled at St. Martin's gained her admission to the Camberwell School of Art, also in London. At the latter school, she was influenced by Victor Pasmore, who was then one of Britain's best known painters.

One of her sisters had moved to Brazil after World War II, and when the sister fell ill, Margaret flew to Sa o Paulo to visit. Margaret's husband joined her shortly thereafter and while she taught art at St. Paul's, the British School in Sa o Paulo, he became established as a commercial artist. Slowly, what had begun as a visit of a few years duration turned into a life-long residence.

In 1956, Margaret made the first of fifteen journeys into the Amazon forest, during which she recorded her observations through her paintings and diaries. Over the course of the next three decades she observed what had been initially for her an absolute wilderness suffer from the impact of colonization and commercial exploitation. Consequently, she became through her art and public appearances not only a strong advocate for capturing images of Amazonian plants and habitats but preserving the forest as well.

Mee's preferred medium was gouache and she insisted on painting from life. During her expeditions, which could last for months, she would make on-site drawings and then take living collections home, sometimes to wait months until a flower would bloom, but always to insure a proper identification of her subject matter. This led to correspondence and contact with many of the world's botanical specialists.

The first major publication reproducing her paintings of Amazonian plants is the remarkable folio entitled Flowers of the Brazilian Forest, Collected and Painted by Margaret Mee (1968). Her friend Roberto Burle Marx, an internationally famous Brazilian landscape architect, wrote the forward. The scientific text associated with each plate was contributed by noted plant taxonomists, including Richard S. Cowan (b. 1921), Lyman B. Smith (b. 1904), and John J. Wurdack (b. 1921), all of the Smithsonian Institution. Mee provided notes about each plant, as well, which she extracted from her diaries.

Paintings of Bromeliaceae that Mee originally had prepared for the Flora Brasilica were published with text prepared by Lyman B. Smith in a volume entitled The Bromeliads (1969). Subsequently, Mee contributed watercolors, many of them floral details, to Orchidaceae Brasiliensis (1975). The next major publication that she illustrated was a sumptuous folio entitled Flores do Amazonas/Flowers of the Amazon (1980). It featured her paintings, diary entries, and botanical text by Guido Pabst. Portions of her diaries, arranged chronologically by expedition, were published with the title Margaret Mee, In Search of Flowers of the Amazon Forests (1988). The book is richly illustrated with her paintings, sketches, and photographs taken on her expeditions.

Tragically, Mee died in an automobile accident in Leicester, England on 30 November 1988.

RARE FLOWERS OF THE AMAZON BY MARGARET MEE - 24 PLATES

FLORES DO AMAZONS - RARE FIRST EDITION BOOK WITH SLIP COVER 1980

This auction is for a very rare first and limited edition HUGE hardback book titled: Flores Do Amazons / Flowers of the Amazon by Margaret Mee dated 1980. This is number 207 of 1000. The overall size of the book minus slip cover is 19" x 25.75". Clear original dust cover is included. The gentlemen that I purchased this from at a local estate sale said he paid $750.00 new at a high end book store in New York City back when it was first published. The purchased 3 of them at the time. He used the one for framing plates (he sold a few of these at the sale which sold for $100+ each framed and he sold the remaining book at the sale as well which went for $400.00 minus the plates already removed), this book we have here which is complete and he kept the final one for himself. He went on to note that many of the copies went to museums and institutions and never offered to the publich. Overall condition is very good. Slip cover does have small stain on the front. The only reason for the sale was because of a move from PA to FL for retirement. Margaret Mee has since passed away in 1988 due to a auto accident. These are very rare and seldom seen in public. The last one I found many years ago online sold for $1000+ prior to her death. Please take the time to review a sampling of the pictures below from this book!! Google shows the following about this book and I'll give a brief history about Margaret Mee as well below.


FLORES DO AMAZONAS - FLOWERS OF THE AMAZON 1980
A large volume it measures 65.5 by 48.5 cms. Without slip case it weighs approximately 6.25 kilos. The design overall was by Greville Mee. John Warren provided three designs. The introduction was written by Richard Evans Schultes, Harvard University [USA] The preface was by Roberto Burle Marx and the botanical texts were written by Guido Pabst assisted by botanists from The Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC [USA], the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew [England] the New York Botanical Garden, [USA]. The translation of the text was by Guttorm Hansen and both Portuguese and English versions appear side by side throughout.

The book contains twenty four plates each the full size of the book and a large [half page] map of Amazonas with a key to where the plants were found.. All the plates are bled to the edge of each page and some were printed separately for sale as botanical prints. The paper is 200gsm wood free cartridge without an obvious watermark. The plates in the book are interleaved with transluscent paper and each faces a brief botanical and diary description.

The gilt embossed cover and spine in English and Portuguese
Life in Rio This enormous volume grew from Margaret's life in Rio de Janeiro. She had moved there from Sao Paulo with Greville Mee in August 1968 and had many friends in the tightly knit artistic and botanical society. In 1975 she was granted the Freedom of Rio de Janeiro [Honoraria Carioca] and she was awarded a small contract with EMBRATUR the Brasilian State Tourist Office to paint flowers of the Atlantic rainforest. Also in 1975 a new Director had taken charge at EMBRATUR. Fiftyfive year old Said Farhat was from Rio Branco, capital of the State of Acre, in far western Amazonia. Farhat had wide experience in public relations and advertising. He had worked in London in 1959 with a leading advertising company and later with J Walter Thompson in Brasil. In 1976 Said Farhat created an idea for a book of Margaret's paintings. It was to be a large, impressively presented collection for distribution throughout the world to have a place in Brasil's diplomatic and trade offices; it was to be given to visiting VIPs and in every way to be a credit to Brasil and the Amazon. Margaret agreed and the plan moved ahead in 1977. The book drew together many people: botanists, artists and the staff of EMBRATUR. Publication was set for 1979 though it was delayed slightly by local circumstances.

Honoured In November 1979 Margaret was honoured with the Cruzeiro do Sul [Brasil's highest award for foreigners]and the book was published in the following year. An exhibition of thirty paintings, some from Flowers of the Amazon was held at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London from October 1st to November 3rd 1980 to mark the launch in London. Margaret attended the opening and was welcomed by H.E The Brasilian Ambassador, Sr.Roberto Campos and his wife.