Customer Reviews

Australia: 300 Years of Botanical Illustration

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This book has clearly positioned itself as the "Bible" for the history of botanical illustration--reporting on most all of the early illustrators of not just Australian (and New Zealander) botanical illustration but of many of the other aspects of Australian natural history. The early artists were assaulted with a wealth of new imagery to record and report to the rest of the world. And many of the artists themselves were the greats of illustration: Parkinson, Solander, the Forsters, Bauer--accompanied by the great natural historians of the day and their champions: Cook, Banks & Solander, Flinders & Hodges, etc. with back up in Europe by Curtis, Edwards and Sowerby, Nodder, Redoute and many others emulating their work in the field. And I should mention, continuing the legacy of those who lost their lives in the endeavor of discovery (Parkinson, Raper, etc).

Hewson also reports the work of the heretofore unknowns, the men in the field that suddenly found themselves as artists: The Port Jackson Painter (Conrad Martin?), Raper, Watling, later Gov.Hunter, and the French.

The quality of the book is good, as are the prints with ample numbers in color.

This book is a solid introduction to this example of human courage and curiosity, and it is a must for any library which concentrates on early Australian history and the history of botanical illustration.