A Garden Eden. Masterpieces of Botanical Illustration

(Hardback, Multilingual edition)

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Description

In pursuit of both knowledge and delight, the craft of botanical illustration has always required not only meticulous draftsmanship but also a rigorous scientific understanding. This new edition of a TASCHEN classic celebrates the botanical tradition and talents with a selection of outstanding works from the National Library of Vienna, including many new images.

From Byzantine manuscripts right through to 19th-century masterpieces, through peonies, callas, and chrysanthemums, these exquisite reproductions dazzle in their accuracy and their aesthetics. Whether in gently furled leaves, precisely textured fruits, or the sheer beauty and variety of colors, we celebrate an art form as tender as it is precise, and ever more resonant amid our growing awareness of our ecological surroundings and the preciousness of natural flora.

Reviews

Art, beauty, and knowledge come together in A Garden Eden. A comprehensive coffee table book on botany with beautiful images. Love of aesthetics is almost the only thing that counts. * Cosmopolitan *
A selection of the best works in botanical illustration. * ELLE *
This trilingual book makes a truly thoughtful gift. * gardenersworld.com *
A Marvellian world of botanical delights unfurls. Art blends with science in plates that range from the Byzantine to the Baroque. * The Times *

Author Bio

H. Walter Lack is a professor at the Free University of Berlin and former director of the Botanical Gardens and Botanical Museum in Berlin-Dahlem. A leading expert in the history of botany, his research focuses on the global transfer of useful and ornamental plants from a cultural historical perspective. He is the author of TASCHENs Garden of Eden, The Book of Palms and Redout. The Book of Flowers.