The Trees of North America: Michaux and Redoute's American Masterpiece

by David Allen Sibley (Author), Gregory Long (Author), David Allen Sibley (Author), Marta Mcdowell (Author), Gregory Long (Author), Susan M. Fraser (Author)

New
Illustrated
2016
$32.66

Francois Andre Michaux (1770--1855) was a French botanist whose work on the trees of North America gave the world's first illustrated account of American trees east of the Mississippi. From 1841 to 1849 the English botanist and one of the greatest plant explorers of North America, Thomas Nuttall (1786--1859), prepared supplementary volumes to Michaux's landmark work, The North American Sylva. More than 150 years after the final publication, this volume includes full-color reproductions of all of the more than 270 plates in a single volume for the first time. Mirroring Abbeville's best-selling National Audubon Society Birds of America, the book includes capsule summaries of every species featured, written by New York Botanical Garden curators, along with reference paintings of the trees and range maps by one of the world's best-known natural history illustrators, David Allen Sibley. Garden President Gregory Long provides a special foreword in honor of the Garden's 125th Anniversary in 2016. Sibley prefaces the book with an essay on the connection of art and natural history. Award-winning horticultural writer Marta McDowell relates the stories of explorer-scientists Michaux and Nuttall.

Synopsis

Francois Andre Michaux (1770--1855) was a French botanist whose work on the trees of North America gave the world's first illustrated account of American trees east of the Mississippi. From 1841 to 1849 the English botanist and one of the greatest plant explorers of North America, Thomas Nuttall (1786--1859), prepared supplementary volumes to Michaux's landmark work, The North American Sylva. More than 150 years after the final publication, this volume includes full-color reproductions of all of the more than 270 plates in a single volume for the first time. Mirroring Abbeville's best-selling National Audubon Society Birds of America, the book includes capsule summaries of every species featured, written by New York Botanical Garden curators, along with reference paintings of the trees and range maps by one of the world's best-known natural history illustrators, David Allen Sibley. Garden President Gregory Long provides a special foreword in honor of the Garden's 125th Anniversary in 2016. Sibley prefaces the book with an essay on the connection of art and natural history. Award-winning horticultural writer Marta McDowell relates the stories of explorer-scientists Michaux and Nuttall.

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More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 392
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Abbeville Press
Published: 01 Nov 2016
ISBN 10: 0789212765
ISBN 13: 9780789212764

Media Reviews

Winner of the American Horticultural Society's 2018 Book Award

This volume's handsome plates feature forthright, detailed drawings; you can almost feel the sheen on the acorns of the cork oak or the shaggy surface of the Bristlecone fir. --Dominique Browning, The Great Outdoors: From Your Backyard to a Garden in Japan, New York Times, November 30, 2017.

Author Bio

The New York Botanical Garden hosts more than one million annual visitors to its 250-acre National Historic Landmark site, which features over one million living specimens, as well as one of the world's preeminent plant research and conservation programs. Founded in 1899, the Garden's Mertz Library is one of the largest, most comprehensive botanical libraries in the world. David Allen Sibley is one of the world's best-known natural history illustrators and the author of acclaimed field guides, including The Sibley Guide to Trees, which have sold more than one million copies. Gregory Long is Chief Executive Officer and The William C. Steere Sr. President of The New York Botanical Garden. Marta McDowell is a gardener, lecturer, and horticultural writer. Her books include All the Presidents' Gardens (2016) and Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life (2013), winner of the Gold Award from the Garden Writers Association.