Amy R. W. Meyers

A collection of essays all loosely connected to the conjunction of art and science/natural history in the Philadelphia region. The pieces vary widely, covering everything from artistic depictions of rattlesnake skeletons to textiles printed with botanical designs and the differences between color-printed and hand-colored books in the early nineteenth century. As usual with a volume like this there are wide variations, but the quality is uniformly high, and the frequent illustrations are very well reproduced. My only minor objection is that the volume is so large as to make it quite uncomfortable to read.… (més)

The authors of the articles in this book make a bold attempt at rehabilitating the reputation of a little known artist-naturalist from the colonial period: Mark Catesby. The pictures are amazing, but some of the points the authors make stray too far from Catesby's vaunted vision. They talk of his patrons, his techniques, and his (I'm paraphrasing) attempt to "conquer" nature and "bring it under the imperial dominion" by drawing it and describing it and naming it. Bullcrap if you ask me. Still, you can find gems amongst the chaff.… (més)