The Taylor White Collection

The Taylor White Collection was created in the mid-18th Century by the landowner, barrister and judge, Taylor White of Tuxford and Wallingwells.

The Taylor White Collection currently comprises of 938 watercolor paintings of animals, including mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles. Formerly the collection also included paintings of flora and fauna, though their whereabouts is not known.

The collection was commissioned by Taylor White, an active Fellow of The Royal Society (FRS) and amateur naturalist. He was the patron of a number of watercolour artists, who specialised in wildlife paintings. The artists included Charles Collins, Peter Paillou,Jacobus van Huysum, George Edwards, and Eleazar Albin.

The collection also includes over 700 manuscript notes and original observations written on the images by Taylor White himself.

The Taylor White Collection remained in the White family's possession after Taylor White's death in 1772, until it was sold by his great-great-great grandson, Sir Archibald White, 4th baronet of Tuxford and Wallingwells in 1926. The sale took place at around the time the family finally moved from their Wallingwells Estate on the Nottinghamshire / Yorkshire border.

The Taylor White Collection was purchased in 1927 by Dr Casey Wood from the London rare book dealer, Bernard Quaritch and subsequently became a part of the Blacker Wood Natural History Collection, which is housed at The Rare Books and Special Collections at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.