The Art of Botanical Illustration Hardcover – August 10, 2015

a very good book, well made.I like it a lot

Great book for drawing and also learning about flora and about the history of botanical illustration. Delivery was extra fast!

I wanna this kind of books all my life...are absolutely beautiful!

Exceptional, love this book!

As one would look for in a book such as this, the illustrations are fine. These vary from 126 color illustrations, many of which are full-page color plates, to numerous black-and-white, some as large as half a page. There’s an illustration on nearly every page. One of the appendices is a listing of the many color illustrations with annotations adding to the captions including medium and location (e. g., museum) or ownership. The work is outstanding and can be appreciated for its visual quality alone, plus the range of this.For readers looking for a history, analysis, and expert commentary on botanical illustration through the ages, the text too stands out. Author of several books of specific topics of botanical art including particular countries (e. g., Surinam) and artists (e. g., Ferdinand Bauer), Stearn is exceptionally knowledgeable about details pertaining to particular eras, styles, and artists in this historical and perennially popular field of art. Blunt, art teacher and curator, brings a broader, relatively generalized, and aesthetic interest to the text. For the original edition of 1950, Stearn was Blunt's assistant. Blunt did an enlarged updated edition. For this third edition, the content has been redesigned for contemporary readers.The book of 24 chapters makes use of both of the authors’ strengths; which are seamlessly intertwined. Some chapters lean toward art history and related aesthetics, while others are on particular notable, influential, or representative artists putting them into both historical and cultural context and referring to other artists of the period. "The Rebirth of Naturalism" and "England in the Early Nineteenth Century" exemplify historical chapters; with "Rabel, Robert and Aubriet" and "The Age of Redoute" exemplifying the chapters on artists. Content of respective types of chapters is always a matter of emphasis, however, with each being multifaceted with respect to content. One learns about particular artists as a historical time is covered; and conversely, one learns about the historical time as a named artist is the focus. One of the attractions of this voluminous book is its varying approach to the long and somewhat complex history of botanical illustration—going back to the herbals and other illustrated books of antiquity—keeping the material fresh and engaging. And all along, there are those handsome, fetching illustrations, especially the color ones.A third level of involvement with the book after its visual quality and substantive text is the first appendix of eight short articles on botanical drawing by W. H. Fitch from the "Gardner's Chronicle" in 1869 and thefollowing three appendices of bibliography. Not exhaustive as no book of art history apart from an encyclopedia could be, "The Art of Botanical Illustration" nevertheless affords an ample, outstanding, and reliable course of study on its subject.It is to be noted too that art collectors, antique dealers, print collectors, art shop owners, and such would find the book a collecting guide and an especially informative and attractive general reference for the field. Botanical illustrations bound into antiquarian books or as art work prints standing by themselves, often removed from books, are a currently popular area in collecting and auctions. This probably has something to do with the current social interests in environmentalism and climate and others drawing attention to the natural world. Botanical prints, however, basically need no such topical justification as their beauty and often exquisite artistry speaks for itself.

This important work by the late, greats Wilfrid Blunt and Dr.William T.Stern is considered the Bible for botanical illustration, and I am thrilled to see that the Antique Collectors Club has at long last republished this key book.This book is an essential reference for anyone interested in the history of botanical illustration. While the book is expensive, it is well worth it, and I would recommend its purchase in the near term before it is sold out as I suspect that the book is a limited edition.I have done reviews for previous editions. The first edition of this book dates back 65+, but the greatest edition was done in the 1994 as the great botanist and important author of historical botanical illustration, William T. Stern joined the famous Wilfred Blunt in his final edition. Upon completion, both men quickly moved to publish the very special Baby Elephant Folio (1976), a tribute to the works of my favorite illustrator, Ferdinand Bauer, and this proved to be the last work of Wilfrid and not too soon after, Dr.Stern also ended his life's work.Both men left us a huge legacy, and a large corpus of publications. THE ART OF BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION is generally viewed by experts and laymen alike as their greatest work.I sincerely thank the Antique Collectors Club for this edition. It truly is a tribute to these late, great authors.Charles M. Marsteller

A beautiful, beautiful book, which I will never tire of looking at. Excellent reference material.

The most reliable book on the history of botanical art around.

Excellent book on a specialist topic

A classic and a good reference book for the art of antiquity.

I expected it to be mostly photos, but instead it’s mostly a lot of writing about a few photos. Might still be an okay read, I was just hoping for a good reference book for drawing.