This is the first scholarly treatise to tell the remarkable story behind the making of the Flora Graeca, a monumental collection of drawings and descriptions of plants in mainland Greece and the Balkan Peninsula. Originally described by Diskorides in the sixth century, the flora and fauna of the Balkan Peninsula were neglected until the gentlemen botanists-naturalists John Sibthorpe and John Hawkins, with the help of illustrator Ferdinand Bauer, travelled the region and produced a class of paintings superior to anything of their kind in existence then. These were to become one of the most valuable treasures of the University of Oxford. Based on the original diaries, letters, and specimen, this fine work is illustrated with prints from the original illustrations which are still housed at the Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford.
This is the first scholarly treatise to tell the remarkable story behind the making of the Flora Graeca, a monumental collection of drawings and descriptions of plants in mainland Greece and the Balkan Peninsula. Originally described by Diskorides in the sixth century, the flora and fauna of the Balkan Peninsula were neglected until the gentlemen botanists-naturalists John Sibthorpe and John Hawkins, with the help of illustrator Ferdinand Bauer, travelled the region and produced a class of paintings superior to anything of their kind in existence then. These were to become one of the most valuable treasures of the University of Oxford. Based on the original diaries, letters, and specimen, this fine work is illustrated with prints from the original illustrations which are still housed at the Department of Plant Sciences at Oxford.
Introduction
Complexities of discovery
Physicians and apothecarians
Levant lunatics
Expeditions
Linnaean revolutions
Sibthorp - the early years
Bauer - the early years
Hawkins - the early years
Sibthorp - the first journey
Hawkins's first journey
Sibthorp - the years between
Bauer's work for Sibthorp and Hawkins
Hawkins - the years between
Hawkins's second journey
Sibthorp's second journey
Sibthorp - the final months
The collections, drawings and notes
Hawkins - home the sailor
The publication of the results
Epilogue
References
Appendices
`Walter Lack's biography of Flora Graeca and the preceding
Prodromus is a masterpiece of meticulous scholarship, expertly
compiled and superbly written.'
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 1999
`...books as this one are essential, that more of their kind are
needed because they are vital for our proper understanding of the
ways in which our knowledge of the world around us, and of those
parts of the world that are far from home, came about.'
OPTIMA Newsletter, No. 34, July 1999
`...an exquisitely illustrated wonder-book of legendary beauty and
rarity.'
Financial Times, 4th September 1999
`A much-needed and magnificent history of John Sibthorp (1758-96)
and his ten-volume "Flora Graeca" (1806-40) and especially of his
extensive exploratory journeys with John Hawkins.'
Rudolf Schmid, Taxon
`Walter Lack's biography of "Flora Graeca"... is a masterpiece of
meticulous scholarship, expertly compiled and superbly written....
I cannot praise Professor Lack's achievement too highly.
'
E. Charles Nelson, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society
`The "Flora Graeca Story" is a remarkable tale of drama and
conflict, but above all of perseverance, excellence, and
dedication.... A well-structured, eminently readable, and
beautifully illustrated book - an altogether admirable
achievement.
'
Arne Strid, Nordic Journal of Botany
`Bauer's plates are the best part of it...'
Blumea
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