Thanks to the National Art Library’s ongoing digitisation efforts, many out-of-copyright items from the library’s collection are now available on the Internet Archive. As part of one of the Library Apprentices’ final projects, a handful of books relating to botany, gardening, and flowers will be added to this collection.
What is the Internet Archive?
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library that aims to provide universal access to all knowledge. It was founded in 1996 and is now home to 49 million books and billions of other media.
Highlights soon to be uploaded
Exotic Botany by James Smith, illustrated by James Sowerby (volumes 1 and 2)
James Smith was a renowned botanist who founded the Linnaeus Society and accumulated 27,185 dried botanical specimens over the course of his life. Smith’s detailed descriptions of the qualities and origins of rare plants are accompanied by James Sowerby’s vibrant illustrations in this 19th-century floriculture book. Sowerby illustrated many of Smith’s other works as well as early publications of the first British botany journal- The Botanical Magazine. The pair created Exotic Botany to introduce beautiful plants from around the globe to British cultivators, inspiring them to acquire new treasures for their own gardens.
Vilmorin’s illustrirte Blumengärtnerei (volumes 2 and 3)
Vilmorin-Andrieux & Cie is a French company that specialises in botanical science and seed production. The company was founded in 1743 by Pierre Andrieux (botanist to King Louis XV) and Andrieux’s son-in-law a grain merchant named Philippe Victoire de Vilmorin.
In addition to its agricultural and scientific activities, Vilmorin is also famous for producing botanical literature. One of the company’s most celebrated and popular books is Les Fleurs de Pleine Terre; a comprehensive horticultural manual, first published in the 1863.
Published between 1873 and 1875, illustrirte Blumengärtnerei is the German edition of Les Fleurs de Pleine Terre. This translated edition was reproduced by Johannes Groenland and Theodor Rümpler. Like the original French text, all three volumes (of this German edition) are full of precise descriptions, cultivation techniques, and complementary illustrations.
Internet Archive and the Library’s botanical collections: National Art Library Collection Awareness Survey 2025.
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Click here to explore the National Art Library’s digitised publications on the Internet Archive.
These beautiful illustrations are also available to consult in-person. Find out how to access the library
