Yesterday’s post got a bit too long for me to show you any of the insides of the books that we found. I didn’t want to short-change that, so I decided to devote a second blog to showing you some of the illustrations from the books we found in the Botanic Garden library. The first set of pictures are from The Fern Garden by Shirley Hibberd, published in 1870. That gives me goosebumps – to hold a volume printed so long ago – I mean here in the US the Civil War had ended just a few years ago!! The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and the book is chock full of them. Here are a few.
The other book I was crazy about was published one hundred years later in 1973. Blanford’s Mushrooms and Toadstools in Colour is another thrilling book of art. The illustrations have a lovely watercolor quality and are very detailed. I’m especially fond of plates that show cross-sections and multiple views of the subject of interest.
There are some ideas I’ve pinned on pinterest that feature a wall covered in botanical illustrations. I think that would be a great idea in lieu of wallpaper and that’s just the sort of thing I’d like in a living room. Naturally they would have to be copies because I would never dream of ripping pages from a book – that’s sacrilegious. But it would be great to scan all the illustrations in these books and use them that way. Or do copy just a few and put them in a cluster of frames… Oh what beauties they are!
Blessings to you,
Sarah
anordinarymiracleday 