It was through his research into Clarence Bicknell that Graham Avery, the Vice-Chairman of the Clarence Bicknell Association, became interested in Fritz Mader. Fritz Mader (1872-1921) alpinist, geologist, botanist, glaciologist, speleologist and photographer, was the son of the pastor of the German-speaking church in Nice. He was educated at a French Lycée in Nice, at […]
Fritz Mader, Pioneer of Natural History – by Graham Avery Read More »
Clarence Bicknell left a record of places, flowers and events in hundreds of pencil or ink drawings in pocket-size sketch books, most with the location and date added. Many are in the Bicknell collection and some in the “Lotto 2017” collection of the Museo Bicknell in Bordighera. Some of the sketches can be linked to
Clarence’s health trip in the mountains 1888 Read More »
In italiano sotto Violet Van Biesbroeck – A mystery solved. The little girl in the 1915 Christmas card to Clarence is the newly-born daughter of the man who drew the picture, Jules van Biesbroeck. Violet Leonie Van Biesbroeck was born in Bordighera on 12 March 1915 to Jules van Biesbroeck and his wife Stephanie (née
Violet Van Biesbroeck – Un mistero risolto. Read More »
Our website and Facebook posting about the identity of Luigi Pollini (https://old.clarencebicknell.com/cima-pollini-who-was-pollini/) has triggered further input on the subject from readers. Most informative is this from Luca Barale, Researcher for the National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources, in Turino. He writes to us on 15 November 2021… “I hope this
Naming of Cima Pollini Read More »
Following a question from Jean-Félix Gandioli of the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle de Nice about Cima Pollini (photo, right) and Pollini’s relationship with Clarence Bicknell, I researched the subject in MARVELS – The Life of Clarence Bicknell by Valerie Lester 2018 and brought forward all the references to Pollini there. You can download these excerpts (in
Cima Pollini – who was Pollini? Read More »
The Ancient King, l’Antico Re, was the name used by Clarence Bicknell and other botanists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for Saxifraga florulenta. Botanists and enthusiasts have always spent many patient hours in search of this rarity, and forever will. It is wonderful and exciting to find it in bloom. Read the
The Ancient King, Saxifraga florulenta Read More »
I received today a copy of an interesting photo of Clarence Bicknell. It was sent by Dr. Andrea De Pascale, PhD, Conservatore del Museo Archeologico del Finale, Istituto Internazionale di Studi Liguri (IISL), a sister museum of the Museo Bicknell. Andrea’s contact details are at the bottom of this page. The photo was acquired by
Photo of Clarence in 1883 in Finalmarina; what does it tell us? Read More »
In the summer of 1886, Clarence Bicknell rented a house at Castérino on the gentler slopes of Mount Bego, where he could combine his studies of alpine plants and the rock engravings. Increasingly his summers were spent in amassing his collection of drawings, rubbings, and photographs, on which he based his first papers in Italian
This list of books and papers written by Clarence will be developed with time, hopefully to include significant unpublished works in museums and the family collection. The first list here includes works about Clarence Bicknell or closely-related subjects and is compiled by Marcus Bicknell. Then there are three further lists created by Dr. Giovanni Russo
Like many a younger son of a moneyed 19th-century family, Clarence Bicknell went into the Church. This was a matter of genuine and felt devotion. At Cambridge University he was much influenced by an enthusiastic group of young churchmen. Soon after he had graduated in 1865, his 23rd year, he took orders in the Church
