Botanical Prints for scientific research and collecting

Botanical prints have a wonderful dual purpose: they are lovely aesthetic pieces, akin to fine art, but also have the meticulous detail necessary for science.

Botanical prints often reflect the preoccupations of society during the time in which they were created. For example 'tulip mania' swept through Holland in the 17th century, making prize tulip bulbs, and prints illustrating the bulbs, sought-after commodities. Fanciful British gardens cultivated in the 18th century were expertly rendered by a well-known Dutch flower artist, Jan Van Huysum.

Beginning in the early 17th century, European artists and scientists undertook massive projects to collect, capture and catalogue nature and its astonishing variety. Hortus Eysttensis was the first major collection of botanical illustrations; it was published in 1613 by Basilius Besler. At least 10 engravers worked under Besler's supervision to complete the 16-year project, which documented the breathtaking gardens of the Prince Bishop of Eichst