This is the first scholarly treatise that tells the remarkable story behind the making of the Flora Graeca, the monumental collection of illustrations and descriptions of plants in Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. First described by Dioskorides in the sixth century, the flora and fauna of the Levant was neglected until the gentlemen botanists-naturalists John Sibthorp and John Hawkins, accompanied by illustrator Ferdinand Bauer, travelled there. Bauer produced a class of paintings superior to anthing of their kind in existence then, and his work was to become one of the most valuable treasures of the University of Oxford. Based on the original diaries, letters, and specimens, this fine work is illustrated with the original illustrations which are still housed at the Department of Plant Sciences there.

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.

Bauer's plates are the best part of it...