The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Lee, Mrs. R. Bowdich

LEE, Mrs. R. Bowdich, an English authoress, born about 1800, died in 1856. During a residence in Gold Coast colony, Africa, whither her first husband, Mr. T. E. Bowdich, had been sent on a mission of pacification to the Ashantees, she collected the materials for an interesting work, which appeared in 1825 under the title of “Stories of Strange Lands.” Another work of the same character, entitled “The African Wanderers” (3d ed., 1854), has been highly esteemed for the charm of its narrative and the exactness of its descriptions. Subsequently Mrs. Bowdich resided for many years in Paris, where she married her second husband, Mr. Lee. While there she enjoyed the friendship of Cuvier, of whom she wrote a memoir, and of other eminent authors and naturalists. Her remaining works are for the most part popular treatises on subjects of natural history. Among them are: “Elements of Natural History: Zoölogy;” “Taxidermy;” “Beauties, Uses, &c., of Trees, Plants, and Flowers;” and “Familiar Natural History.”