"It is absolutely incredible to have this first edition Catesby stay here. People don't understand what a document like this can mean to students of history. Yes, you can look at Catesby — some slides online, for example — but it's not the same thing as being able to look at the original. All too often the treasures of our state are bought up by folks from elsewhere and carried off literally to museums around the country and around the world. This is a treasure that is thankfully staying home where we can learn the wonder and the variety of our state's natural heritage."

"There was tremendous interest in Europe, particularly in England, about the New World, as they called it. There are records from the very early settlements in South Carolina in the 1670s of individuals sending back specimens of plants, flowers and Indian artifacts."

"Mark Catesby is just a fabulous character. He came to South Carolina in 1722 and spent three years here traveling from the Lowcountry to the mountains and uncovering many rare plants that had never been seen before. Catesby said he found everything here that he found in Virginia but much more and a much greater variety than what was in the old Commonwealth. He went on bison and panther hunts with the Cherokee Indians and uncovered the first fossils that were ever discovered in North America, probably in the Savannah River Valley somewhere near present day Beech Island."

~ Dr. Walter Edgar, the George Washington Distinguished Professor of History and Claude Henry Neuffer Professor of Southern Studies at the University of South Carolina

"A first edition Catesby is exciting… spectacular. Mark Catesby introduced Europeans to America's natural history, and they got excited about what he depicted. I personally love the snake prints; they're just not as popular as birds."

~ Rudy Mancke, naturalist, guest curator at the University of South Carolina McKissick Museum, and host for 25 years of the popular PBS series, "Nature Scene."

"The first comprehensive and arguably the most accomplished illustrated survey of the flora and fauna of the British-American colonies. Mark Catesby's 'Natural History' was first published in parts between 1731 and 1743 with the support of the Hans Sloane and the Royal Society of London. Part of its impact derives from the fact that Catesby engraved the plates from his own paintings and oversaw the hand coloring of the printed copies. Consisting of more than 200 hand- colored engravings and a map of the area Catesby explored, this magnificent work took over 20 years to produce and earned Catesby the title of 'Founder of American Ornithology.' It is a wonderful high spot of Americana and supports research in many areas, including natural history, ornithology, color plate printing, scientific illustration and exploration and discovery, among other topics."

~ Dr. Steven Smith, associate dean for collections and services, Texas A&M University Libraries