What do you think?
Rate this book
Explorers' Botanical Notebook: In the Footsteps of Theophrastus, Marco Polo, Linnaeus, Flinders, Darwin, Speke and Hooker
"The greatest pleasure of naturalists (understated by certain utilitarians) is to discover new species, to point to new islands on the map of nature, and to populate continents that seem to be deserts"
-- Richard Spruce, 1851 This splendid book traces the journeys of more than 80 pioneering botanists who explored the unknown world and collected thousands of unusual plants. Many were celebrated at home in Europe and England. Others were working in obscurity to fulfill their own desires and obsessions. But every one of these explorers made important finds, collecting and preserving unique and valuable plants and often establishing them in cultivation back in their home lands. Each spread in the book describes the journey and the naturalist, with a map tracing the routes taken, on the left. Facing is the actual plant collected, complete with notes, seeds, pollen, and identifying documents, often in the botanist's own hand. The stories are packed with detail, describing the theories of the day, the difficulty of raising money, and traversing jungles and forests. But each is colored by the excitement of discovering orchids, trees, teas, flowering roses and acanthus, ferns, strange bulbs, and mountain flowers. The design is accompanied by 80 maps, 150 photographs, drawings and engravings. All work to reproduce the spirit of the quest and the discovery of plants.
-- Richard Spruce, 1851 This splendid book traces the journeys of more than 80 pioneering botanists who explored the unknown world and collected thousands of unusual plants. Many were celebrated at home in Europe and England. Others were working in obscurity to fulfill their own desires and obsessions. But every one of these explorers made important finds, collecting and preserving unique and valuable plants and often establishing them in cultivation back in their home lands. Each spread in the book describes the journey and the naturalist, with a map tracing the routes taken, on the left. Facing is the actual plant collected, complete with notes, seeds, pollen, and identifying documents, often in the botanist's own hand. The stories are packed with detail, describing the theories of the day, the difficulty of raising money, and traversing jungles and forests. But each is colored by the excitement of discovering orchids, trees, teas, flowering roses and acanthus, ferns, strange bulbs, and mountain flowers. The design is accompanied by 80 maps, 150 photographs, drawings and engravings. All work to reproduce the spirit of the quest and the discovery of plants.
176 pages, Hardcover
Published October 25, 2016
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 20, 2023
This is a good introduction to botanists from around the world and their adventures in plant finding.
Some of the resources listed in the back were in French, so if you are a multilingual plant lover, there is a treasure trove waiting for you.
I enjoyed looking at the plants photos that were taken from collections in France and England.
Take a look at this book and get inspired.
Some of the resources listed in the back were in French, so if you are a multilingual plant lover, there is a treasure trove waiting for you.
I enjoyed looking at the plants photos that were taken from collections in France and England.
Take a look at this book and get inspired.
November 4, 2016
Disclaimer: I received this book from Goodreads as a First Reads Giveaway.
This book is INCREDIBLE.
I couldn't be more excited to have received this.
If you have even the slightest interest in plants, nature, science, history, or are just a vaguely curious individual, pick this up. This book will enchant you.
It's full of diary entries and letters from old explorers, historical maps, drawings, pictures of exotic plants, and photographs of beautiful plant specimens.
This book is INCREDIBLE.
I couldn't be more excited to have received this.
If you have even the slightest interest in plants, nature, science, history, or are just a vaguely curious individual, pick this up. This book will enchant you.
It's full of diary entries and letters from old explorers, historical maps, drawings, pictures of exotic plants, and photographs of beautiful plant specimens.
March 23, 2017
This book is a summary of plants collected by prominent European explorers and botanical scientists over the past few centuries. The author Florence Thinard is French. The book focuses on well preserved and photographed plant specimens at Kew Gardens Herbarium and Montpelier University Herbarium. It brought a lot of new botanical facts to my attention. One error in the short biographical paragraph on Captain William Bligh, who had been sent to Tahiti in 1788 to collect breadfruit trees in pots, says when he was later governor of the British colony of New South Wales, he put down a bloody rebellion. On 26 January 1808, Governor Bligh was arrested by officers and men of the New South Wales Corps and the colony placed under military rule. However, no one died in this so called Rum rebellion, a colourful term applied only decades later.
January 10, 2019
Herbarium specimens and their stories provide nearly endless opportunity for study. Photographs of specimens are so realistic and visually textural, you may catch yourself reaching out to touch them.
December 19, 2016
So pleased and happy to have been selected to win this fabulously illustrated and detailed beautiful book. I keep it on my table in the living room. It looks quite charming. I've looked through the entire book and have pretty much read 95% of it. I love plants and the study of botany and plant taxonomy. This is amongst my field of study, which is why I was so happy to win. I will always keep this book. Thank you again! :)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews