Flora Illustrata Great Works from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of The New York Botanical Garden Susan M Fraser, Vanessa Bezemer Sellers, Scott & Nix Inc.

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Format:: Hardback
Publication date:: 10 Nov 2014
ISBN:: 9780300196627
Imprint:: Yale University Press
Dimensions:: 320 pages: 292 x 229mm
Illustrations:: 279 color and b-w illus.
Sales territories:: World

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An exquisitely illustrated volume in celebration of the world’s foremost library of botanical works

The renowned LuEsther T. Mertz Library of The New York Botanical Garden counts among its holdings many of the most beautiful and pioneering botanical and horticultural works ever created. More than eight centuries of knowledge, from the twelfth century to the present, are represented in the library’s collection of over one million items. In this sumptuously illustrated volume, international experts introduce us to some of the library’s most fascinating works—exceedingly rare books, stunning botanical artworks, handwritten manuscripts, Renaissance herbals, nursery catalogs, explorers’ notebooks, and more. The contributors hold these treasures up for close inspection and offer surprising insights into their histories and importance.

The diverse materials showcased in the volume reflect the creative efforts of eminent explorers, scientists, artists, publishers, and print makers. From the rare, illuminated pages of Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis historia (1483), to the earliest book ever published on American insects (1797), to lovely etchings of the water gardens at Villa Pratolino in Florence (1600s), the Mertz Library holdings will inspire in readers a new appreciation for the extraordinary history of botany and its far-reaching connections to the worlds of science, books, art, and culture.

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Susan M. Fraser is director, the LuEsther T. Mertz Library, The New York Botanical Garden. She lives in New York City. Vanessa Bezemer Sellers is Humanities Research Coordinator at The New York Botanical Garden, and a landscape and garden historian.

'The LuEsther T. Mertz Library at The New York Botanical Garden is surely the greatest research botanical library in the world, a precious repository of knowledge from cultures all over the world and spanning from the 12th century to the 21st. Plants - from which we ultimately derive all of our food, building materials, and medicines - are also a source of great beauty and wonder. Flora Illustrata celebrates all this, and speaks of an intimate relationship between art and science. It is equally a feast for the mind and the eyes.' - Oliver Sacks