Enfilade

From Reaktion, with additional distribution by The University of Chicago Press:

Stephen Harris, The Beauty of the Flower: The Art and Science of Botanical Illustration (London: Reaktion Books, 2023), 336 pages, ISBN: 97-81789147803, £30 / $45.

Featuring superb and rare images, this book reveals the fascinating stories behind botanical illustration.

In a world flooded with images designed to create memories, validate perceptions and influence others, botanical illustration is about creating technically accurate depictions of plants. Reproductions of centuries-old botanical illustrations frequently adorn greetings cards, pottery and advertising, to promote heritage or generate income, yet their art is scientific: its purpose is to record, display and transmit scientific data. The Beauty of the Flower shows us how scientific botanical illustrations are collaborations among artists, scientists and publishers. It explores the evolution and interchanges of these illustrations since the mid-fifteenth century, the ways in which they have been used to communicate scientific ideas about plants and how views of botanical imagery change. Featuring unique images rarely seen outside of specialist literature this book reveals the fascinating stories behind these remarkable illustrations.

Stephen A. Harris is an Associate Professor of Plant Sciences and curator of the herbarium at the University of Oxford. His books include Sunflowers (Reaktion, 2018) and Roots to Seeds: 400 Years of Oxford Botany (2021).

c o n t e n t s

Preface
1  Plant and Page
2  Themes and Trends
3  Science and Illustration
4  Blood and Treasure
5  Garden and Grove
6  Inside and Out
7  Habit and Habitat
8  Observe and Test
9  Sweat and Tears

Appendix: Plant Names
References
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index

From Princeton UP:

Gunnar Broberg, The Man Who Organized Nature: The Life of Linnaeus, translated by Anna Paterson (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2023), 512 pages, ISBN: 978-0691213422, £35 / $40.

A new biography of Carl Linnaeus, offering a vivid portrait of Linnaeus’s life and work

Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), known as the father of modern biological taxonomy, formalized and popularized the system of binomial nomenclature used to classify plants and animals. Linnaeus himself classified thousands of species; the simple and immediately recognizable abbreviation ‘L’ is used to mark classifications originally made by Linnaeus. This biography, by the leading authority on Linnaeus, offers a vivid portrait of Linnaeus’s life and work. Drawing on a wide range of previously unpublished sources—including diaries and personal correspondence—as well as new research, it presents revealing and original accounts of his family life, the political context in which he pursued his work, and his eccentric views on sexuality.

The Man Who Organized Nature describes Linnaeus’s childhood in a landscape of striking natural beauty and how this influenced his later work. Linnaeus’s Lutheran pastor father, knowledgeable about plants and an enthusiastic gardener, helped foster an early interest in botany. The book examines the political connections that helped Linnaeus secure patronage for his work, and untangles his ideas about sexuality. These were not, as often assumed, an attempt to naturalize gender categories but more likely reflected the laissez-faire attitudes of the era. Linnaeus, like many other brilliant scientists, could be moody and egotistical; the book describes his human failings as well as his medical and scientific achievements. Written in an engaging and accessible style, The Man Who Organized Nature—one of the only biographies of Linnaeus to appear in English—provides new and fascinating insights into the life of one of history’s most consequential and enigmatic scientists.

Gunnar Broberg (1942–2022) was professor emeritus of history of ideas and sciences at Lund University in Sweden. He was the author of numerous books, including Golden Apples, which won the August Prize for best Swedish nonfiction title of the year, and The History of the Night, which was nominated for Best Swedish History Book of the Year. Anna Paterson, a retired neuroscientist, is an award-winning translator and the author of Scotland’s Landscape: Endangered Icon.