250th Anniversary of Alexander von Humboldt with Andrea Wulf
Friday, April 19, 2019
10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Andrea Wulf’s 2015 bestseller The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World was a New York Times 2015 Top Ten Book and won literary honors around the world. To mark the 250th anniversary of the revolutionary naturalist-explorer-author’s birth, Wulf returns to the Garden with artist Lillian Melcher, to introduce The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt—a brilliantly evocative graphic novel the two women developed together.
Focusing on Humboldt’s five-year expedition in South America, Wulf and Melcher incorporate pages of his own diaries, sketches, drawings, and maps to create an intimate portrait of the radical ecologist who predicted human-induced climate change, fashioned poetic narrative out of scientific observation, and influenced iconic figures such as Bolívar, Jefferson, Darwin, and Muir. Don’t miss this captivating talk with Wulf and Melcher that kicks off Earth Day Weekend at NYBG!
A unique viewing of Humboldt’s original publications and herbarium specimen will be available immediately after the presentations in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library on the 6th floor of the Library Building.
Please enter the Garden through the Mosholu Entrance, 2950 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10458, and check in at Ross Hall.
Support for the Humanities Institute at The New York Botanical Garden provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation