Wondrous Journey: Jonathan Fisher and The Making of Scripture Animals

Jonathan Fisher, born into an old Dedham, Massachusetts family and educated at Harvard College from 1788 to 1795 in mathematics and divinity, came to Blue Hill, Maine in 1796 as the first pastor of the Congregational Church. He is seen today as one of New England’s most remarkable citizens who developed and displayed his wide-ranging talents in the arts, architecture, literature, farming, medicine, science, and mathematics. This exhibition will focus on his last publication, Scripture Animals, a 350-page compendium of creatures described in text and illustrations by Fisher, a book at the center of a story which draws from his enduring curiosity and from his travels between Maine and Massachusetts. A Wondrous Journey will explore the context for the making and marketing of the book, the sequence of events which led to its origins, its significance to early American bookmaking and how it became a catalyst for the chance encounter between cousins and fellow painters, Alvan and Jonathan Fisher. This exhibition is sponsored by Lie-Nielson Toolworks, Inc. and by The Goose River Exchange. The primary media sponsor of A Wondrous Journey: Jonathan Fisher and The Making of Scripture Animals is Maine Home + Design.