A Guide to Resources about Botanical Illustration available at the Couch Biology Library and the Sloane Art Library
This guide is a highly selective list of materials available for the study of botanical illustration.
Its contents are based on the materials available at the Couch Biology Library-Botany Section
and the Sloane Art Library on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Contents
Plant, Animal and Anatomical Illustration in Art & Science: a
Bibliographical Guide from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day,
by Gavin D.R. Bridson and James J. White. Art Library Ready
Reference QH46.5.P436 1990.
This book is organized in three main sections, as reflected in its title:
representations of plants, animals, and anatomy. Within each section, one can
find citations to primary literature about illustration methods, secondary
literature on history and criticism, a history of specific plants as represented
in art, and literature on illustrative photography and artist biographies.
Grove Dictionary of Art (Online)
This online dictionary provides general articles on all aspects of art, and
is a good starting place for finding information on a technique, artist, or period.
Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore and Symbols, by Gertrude Jobes.
Art Library Reference GR35.J6.
This dictionary provides brief synopses of symbols used throughout history,
including information on mythical properties attributed to plants.
A Dictionary of Flower, Fruit and Still Life Painters, by Sydney Herbert
Paviere. Art Library Reference ND1390.P3.
This dictionary is organized chronologically by volume, and alphabetically by
artist within the volumes. It provides information about birth/death dates, the
artists' school, a brief biographical sketch, notable collections housing his/her
work, and important exhibitions. A bibliography of sources about each artist is also
included.
Great Flower Books 1700-1900: A Bibliographic Record of Two Centuries of
Finely-Illustrated Flower Books, by Sacheverell Sitwell and Wilfrid Blunt.
Botany Library Oversize Z5354.B68 S57 1990.
This book is an annotated bibliography of selected works of botanical illustration.
It is organized alphabetically by author name, listing the name of the work, the number of
plates within the work, and journal citations that point the reader to more information
about the entry. Great Flower Books 1700-1900 also includes a thorough introduction and
overview of the history of botanical illustration.
Back to Contents
Register of Original Botanical Art
As the Register introduction states, "This preliminary guide attempts to record
the location of original botanical paintings and drawings from any time period done
in traditional media such as watercolor, pastel, ink or pencil mostly in public
collections." The register includes information about artworks located not only around
the United States but also here at UNC. Records of illustrations in the Biology Library
and UNC Herbarium collections can be found here.
Catalog of Botanical Illustrations,
Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution
This is the online catalog of botanical illustration from The Department of
Botany of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. It
currently offers 500 images in three completed families: Bromeliaceae, Cactaceae,
and Melastomataceae.
ISI Citation Databases (Web of Science)
If you are looking for scientific journal articles about botanical illustration,
the ISI Citation Databases are good places to start. This database makes the Science
Citation Index Expanded and BIOSIS Previews available, and it can be searched using a
number of different techniques. Among them are the Cited Reference Search in which you
can trace scholarly citations through searching an article's bibliography. Keyword, author,
and title searches are also possible.
ARTstor
ARTstor is a digital library of over 400,000 images, and a good starting
place to find botanical illustrations. For more information, about this source,
see the ARTstor tutorial.
JSTOR
JSTOR is a multidisciplinary, full-text database that archives full journal runs.
Several journals of interest to the researcher of botanical illustration can be found
in this archive. It may be of interest to limit by the Art and Art History Discipline/Journals.
Art Full Text
Art Full Text is a database of full text articles searchable by keyword, etc.
Its thesaurus includes the subject heading, "Botanical Illustration."
CAMIO
Research Libraries Group's (RLG) Catalog of Art Museum Images Online offers
rights-cleared, high-quality art images for class projects, art history, and
studio art programs, course Web sites, presentations, and research resources.
Bibliography of the History of Art
The most comprehensive art bibliography available worldwide, covering European
and American art from late antiquity to the present. The Bibliography of the History
of Art (BHA) indexes and abstracts books, conference proceedings, dissertations,
exhibition and dealer catalogs, and articles from more than 2,500 periodicals. Subjects
covered are painting, sculpture, drawing, prints; decorative and applied arts;
architecture and indutrial design; popular and folk art. It includes and extends the
coverage of its two predecessor indexes, RAA-Repertoire d'Art et d'Archeologie (1973-1989)
and RILA-International Repertory of the Literature of Art (1975 to 1989).
USDA's PLANTS Image Gallery
"The PLANTS Gallery emphasizes photos and line drawings of U.S. plants but also
contains many cultivated or foreign taxa...Search the Gallery by Artist, Image Location,
State Distribution, Copyright Status, and more! Improved View and Sort options let you
look at 15, 25, 50, or 100 thumbnail images per page. Best of all, synonym names are
searched, too." (Source: USDA Website)
Mo's Plants
A website dedicated to creative ideas for gifts and decorations using plants. The
website has a free graphics gallery and also features an e-book titled Online Botanical
Illustrations.
Back to Contents
Essential books:
The Art of Botanical Illustration, by Wilfrid Blunt
and William T. Stern. Botany Library QK98.15 .B58 1994b.
This is a survey of botanical illustration from Middle Ages to the present
and is a classic withing the subject of botanical illustration. Published in
cooperation with Kew Gardens, The Art of Botanical Illustration
is centered in the European and British traditions of botanical illustration.
It includes a bibliography of books on British plants, as well as a more
general bibliography.
The Book of Flowers: Four Centuries of Flower Illustration,
by Alice M. Coats. Botany Library Oversized Folio NC815.C62.
Preface states: "limited to flowers as represented on paper or vellum,
not those in painting [...]. It covers the period from 1485 to 1850, when
standards of reproduction began to decline". A nice selection of works-reproduced
in black and white and in color plates-of flowers from famous and important herbals,
florilegums, and other collections, with brief descriptions of the works and/or the
botanists and artists that produced the illustrations.
The Art of Flowers, by Jack Kramer. Botany Library
QK98.2.K73 2002.
Introduction states "inspirational book rather than a how-to-draw work."
Provides brief biographical sketches of a number of important 19th century flower
illustrators with nice reproductions of examples of their work. Also provides a
historical overview of 19th century flower illustration. "Golden age of botanical
art 1820-60". Less scholarly then the others included here, yet it contains a
section of advice on botanical illustration from the great illustrators.
"A magnificent took into 19th century botanical illustration by such renowned
artists as Pierre Joseph Redoute, George Brookshaw, Jane Loudon, and others.
Features scores of dazzling, rare reproductions and a special section of how-to-draw
flower books from the 19th century." [Alibris blurb]
Garden Eden : Masterpieces of Botanical illustration,
by H. Walter Lack. Botany Library QK98.2 .L33 2001.
This book "presents selections from one hundred
outstanding works of botanical illustration residing in the extensive
collections of the Austrian National Library in Vienna. The 483
coloured plates provide a chronological, geographic, thematic and technical
profile of botanical illustration ranging from the 6th to the 20th
century: from the Byzantine Codex Aniciae Julianae (included
in UNESCO's 'Memory of the World' list), through early Renaissance herbals
and magnificently illustrated Baroque gardens, to the golden century of
botanical illustration between 1750 and 1850. The arrival of photography
has effected radical changes in the realm of botanical illustration,
but its importance remains unaltered." [Book cover]
Back to Contents
Botanical Magazine
This important British periodical described and illustrated flowering plants.
Founded in 1787, it continues to be published (under Curtis's Botanical Magazine)
to this day.
Back to Contents
The resources listed above give a broad overview of botanical illustrations.
There are many more books, journals, online resources, and other
materials available about more specialized subjects within this topic.
Ways to access these resources include (but are not limited to):
- Browse the Couch Biology Library—Botany Section
and the Sloane Art Library
physically or online through the call numbers within the QK98's.
- To find more specific titles, search the online catalog
for books and journals. Library of Congress Subject Headings related to
botanical illustrations include:
- Agriculture
- Biology
- Ecology
- Decoration and Ornament -- Plant forms
- Botanical Artists
- Botanical Illustration
- Botanical Illustration -- Catalogs
- Botanical Illustration -- History
- If you have more specific questions about this topic,
there are many people available to help you on the UNC campus. Contact:
Produced by Betsy Appleton and Kari Kozak.
