Graham Arader, Main Line native and notorious collector of the finest rare maps, art, and books, recently made possibly one of his greatest acquisitions when purchasing a collection of rare drawings by William Bartram, the celebrated Kingsessing-born botanist, writes J.F. Pirro for the Philadelphia Magazine.
Arader ensures there is meaning behind everything he owns. His Upper Merion residence is the former home of Isaac Hughes, a lieutenant colonel in the Pennsylvania militia, and most likely where General George Washington stayed for 11 days before his encampment at Valley Forge.
Today, the 1758 home is the suburban showplace for Arader Galleries, with some of the best 16th-to-19th-century natural-history lithography and watercolors, maps, and important atlases in the world.
His goal is to find a public home for the collection in the Philadelphia area.
“The entire Bartram story is compelling and very, very connected to Philadelphia,” said Arader. “Gardening is a passion in Philadelphia. So is the Quaker view of the importance of the natural world, and Bartram having written the first great American travel book. It’s a very Philadelphia story.”
Read more about Graham Arader in the Philadelphia Magazine.
