A review of "A Celebration of Flowers"
I never heard of Curtis's Botanical Magazine (now Kew Magazine), but it's
apparently a long-running botanical journal, first published in 1787 when it
was founded by William Curtis. The magazine insisted on coloring plates by hand
until 1948 - no photographs allowed!
This book is a celebration of the first 200 years of this particular periodical. Many color plates from various issues of the magazine are reproduced. One chapter deals with William Curtis, the founder. He was an apothecary by trade and natural history enthusiast by inclination. The point of his magazine was to illustrate and describe the exotic species of flowering plants popular at the time, and apparently the periodical was intended for the general reader (or whatever passed for general reader during the late 18th century). Many subscribers complained about the featured plants not being exotic enough!
Subsequent chapters of this book deal with Curtis' successors at the editorial chair: John Sims, William Jackson Hooker and Joseph Hooker. There is also a chapter on Lovell Reeve, the actual owner of the magazine. Finally, there are special chapters on glasshouses and gardens, the pursuit and transportation of plants, and (surprise) orchids.
Four stars for a relatively popularized book that might nevertheless be of interest only to botanists or garden-enthusiasts.
This book is a celebration of the first 200 years of this particular periodical. Many color plates from various issues of the magazine are reproduced. One chapter deals with William Curtis, the founder. He was an apothecary by trade and natural history enthusiast by inclination. The point of his magazine was to illustrate and describe the exotic species of flowering plants popular at the time, and apparently the periodical was intended for the general reader (or whatever passed for general reader during the late 18th century). Many subscribers complained about the featured plants not being exotic enough!
Subsequent chapters of this book deal with Curtis' successors at the editorial chair: John Sims, William Jackson Hooker and Joseph Hooker. There is also a chapter on Lovell Reeve, the actual owner of the magazine. Finally, there are special chapters on glasshouses and gardens, the pursuit and transportation of plants, and (surprise) orchids.
Four stars for a relatively popularized book that might nevertheless be of interest only to botanists or garden-enthusiasts.
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