Garden Eden : Masterpieces of Botanical Book Illustration

Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Gift for Any Botanist
Review: This beautiful folio houses some 510 lush, botanical landscapes and small illustrations, featuring a collection from the oldest known "herbarium"- the Byzantine "Codex Aniciae Julianae." The introduction and the rest of the text are given in three languages: English, German, and French. This book is a perfect gift for a gardener or for someone who simply enjoys looking at and delighting in floral reproductions. The only fault I found with this otherwise perfect edition was its being a paperback. As something I wished to have with me for many years-to-come, I naturally wanted "Garden Eden" to be in the hardcover format, but unfortunately it is available only in paperback. It is nevertheless a gorgeous volume, and a perfect addition to Albertus Seba's "Cabinet of Natural Curiosities." Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: take my word for it you want this one
Review: This book is GREAT! This book is beautiful, this book is wonderful!!! [gee, think I like the book?] If you are considering buying only one book of botanical illustrations this is the perfect book to start with. If you have many books of botanical works of art this will be a valued addition to them. It is basically a sampling of botanical works of art throughout history. It includes many different artists from all different countries and all differnet styles. The one thing they all share in common is beauty.
If you want to purchase books of botanical illustration and don't know where or with whom to start this is the perfect book for you because it displays so many different artists, techniques time periods and styles.
Even if you already have a collection of this art I can still highly recommend this book. It is that good. I don't think that the book loses much of anything by being a paperback. The cover is of a very heavy material with a vibrant illustration on it. It is a coated cover so that it will stand up to quite a bit of wear. Please don't let that stop you from purchsing this wonderful book. There is so very much to look at and study here, it is a book that you will never tire of browsing through. It is also a great reference for reviewing a large number of different masters in this art form. Get this one, you will not regret it!