Common to This Country: Botanical Discoveries of Lewis and Clark [Hardcover]

Susan H. Munger (Author), Charlotte Staub Thomas (Illustrator), Verlyn Klinkenborg (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2003

Lewis and Clark's 1804 to 1806 expedition to discover a direct water route to the Pacific Ocean resulted in accomplishments never imagined. Although they never found a water route west, they discovered and described more than 40 American Indian tribes, 122 animals unknown to science, and 178 types of plants. In exquisitely detailed watercolor illustrations and intriguing essays, Common to This Country explores more than two dozen of these plants' place in history and their significance.

The book skillfully chronicles Lewis' obsession with plant collecting, often in his own words, and botanically accurate watercolors display the salient features often noted in Lewis's journal. This beautiful guide will appeal to natural history buffs and gardeners alike.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Susan H. Munger is an editor, writer, and master gardener. She owns and operates Oldham Publishing Service and produces The New London Gazette. She lives in southeastern Connecticut.

Verlyn Klinkenborg is the author of The Last Fine Time, Making Hay, and the forthcoming Becoming a Hand: A True Life Among Horses. His articles have appeared in many magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper's, Audubon, Smithsonian, and The New Republic. He teaches creative writing at Harvard University.

Charlotte Staub Thomas is a botanical artist whose work has appeared in numerous shows throughout the United States. She resides in Bradenton, Florida.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Artisan; 1st ed edition (November 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579652247
• ISBN-13: 978-1579652241
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, January 20, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Common to This Country: Botanical Discoveries of Lewis and Clark (Hardcover)

This book was mentioned in a local newspaper; I received it for my birthday and really enjoyed reading it!! It is a delightful mix of history and botany with soft illustrations. It has quotes from the journals of Lewis and Clark and reveals their reactions to plants they collected. The design, pages with a muted yellow edge and the font, helped tell the story of plant collection during the Lewis and Clark expedition. Interesting details were shared about the expedition and the plants that were collected. The illustrations also were muted or soft - not the hard line drawings you sometimes see of plants. Designed and written well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A botanist's review of Common to This Country, March 13, 2006

By 

Robert Wernerehl (Blue Mounds, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Common to This Country: Botanical Discoveries of Lewis and Clark (Hardcover)

As both a botanist who is familiar with many of the species in the book, and as a lover of history and the story of Lewis and Clark, I found the book very enjoyable. I'm in agreement with the other review (as of 10 March 2006) that the illustrations are very pleasing, and the book and paper quality is excellent. New and well done botanical illustrations have become a rarity in the days of digital photography, and these drawings, by Charlotte Staub Thomas, are excellent, the one exception being the drawing for bur oak which is sub-par. Certainly, serious botanists would wish for more information about each plant, and for more plants to be included. But as a book for plant lovers and gardeners, this book is a real value.