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

This handsome volume has historical, aesthetic, and horticultural value. The New York Botanical Garden's rare-book collection has yielded here a new edition of the landmark volumes by 19th-century botanists Fran%C3%A7ois-Andr%C3%A9 Michaux and Thomas Nuttall that first catalogued North American trees. Renowned 19th-century botanical artist Pierre-Joseph Redout%C3%A9 supplied many of the original hand-colored illustrations, and contemporary botanical artist David Allen Sibley's accompanying essay illuminates the process of reproducing botanical illustrations and also draws the eye to tiny technical details. Other contextualizing essays help explain the significance of this remarkable work, but the bulk of the book is the series of illustrated plates%E2%80%94a visual compendium of all-American maples, oaks, pines, elms, ash, and many more%E2%80%94rich in subtle detail. Anyone with eyes to see the art of nature will appreciate this beautiful book. 270 color illus. (May)