Botanical Riches PB

Stories of Botanical Exploration

Richard Aitken

With illustrations of extraordinary splendour and beauty, Botanical Riches is a colourful history and enthralling tale of botanical exploration.

About this Title

'This is a book to treasure. Lavishly illustrated, lovingly written, globally inclusive . . .' (Choice)

Hailed on publication as essential reading for anyone interested in plants and gardens, Botanical Riches is now available for the first time in a beautifully produced paperback edition.

The botanical riches of this book are twofold. This is first a book about plants themselves, and the story of their exploration, appreciation, introduction and exploitation through the ages. But it is equally about the collective library of books that document this botanical exploration and appreciation of plants, and the history and craft of botanical illustration.

Richard Aitken brings his wide expertise in garden history to this highly illustrated book. He traces man's gradual realisation of the potential of plants for medicinal, nutritional, flavouring and decorative purposes from the ancient and classical worlds, through to the Renaissance and the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, to today. Entire mercantile societies revolved around the trade in spices, oils and fruit and vegetables, making those in possession of such natural resources extremely wealthy.

Botanical Riches is magnificently illustrated with some of the world's most glorious engraved, lithographed and hand-coloured botanical illustrations. From the earliest Renaissance herbals to the elaborate and beautiful volumes from the golden age of printing, books celebrating plants from far-off lands brought with them a sense of wonder.

Botanical Riches relies on the fusion of nature and culture, art, history and botanical observation. Its apt and generous illustrations complement a lively and gripping tale.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I: Plants of the Ancient and Classical Worlds
(From the dawn of time to the 1450s)
1 Timeless Traditions
2 The Fertile Crescent
3 Ancient Egypt
4 Ancient India
5 Mesoamerican and Andean Civilisations
6 Mediterranean Civilisations
7 The Silk Road to Cathay and Beyond
8 The Rise of Islam
9 The Renaissance

Part II: The Great Age of Maritime Exploration
(From the 14502 to the 1750s)
10 Empire Building in the Golden Age
11 The New World
12 Imperial Tales of the Near East
13 Exploring the Far East
14 European Colonisation of the Americas
15 The Cape Unveiled
16 Taking Stock

Part III: Scientific Imperialism and Exotic Botany
(From the 1750s to the 1990s)
17 The Reach of Empire
18 New Holland and the South Pacific
19 Erica-mania
20 Anglo-India and the Dutch East Indies
21 North America's Western Frontier
22 Central and South America
23 Piercing the Oriental Armour
24 Commerce and the Insatiable Taste for Novelty

Part IV: Living Fossils
(The 1900s and Beyond)
25 Wollemi Dreaming

Notes on Sources
Select Bibliography
List of Illustrations
Index

About the Author

Richard Aitken is a Melbourne-based architect, curator and historian. He has prepared conservation plans for many of Australia's most significant historic gardens, including the botanic gardens of Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. His publications include The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens (2002), Gardenesque: a celebration of Australian gardening (2004), and Seeds of Change: an illustrated history of Adelaide Botanic Gardens (2006). He is currently researching the history of Australian garden styles for the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Building.