Natural Interactions in the Book as Art and Making Knowledge

Coloring in other works on paper

Tulip specimens in Johann Theodor de Bry’s flower book

The physical engagement that natural history books encouraged from their users generated new impulses in art in the 1600s. Illustrations of natural history treatises, along with the fancy to color them, moved to different genres. A lavish page of tulips by Johann Theodor de Bry, which had likely been hand-colored by a professional artist before it was sold, is a remarkable example of colored images outside of the natural history treatise. The loose sheet is from a copy of the Florilegium Novum (“The New Florilegium”), a print series of eighty-one illustrated pages, from where it was at some point removed. The work belongs to a genre called florilegia (floral books), which was particularly popular among elite collectors, who would pay even larger sums for colored copies.

Even though floral books were removed from the realm of the natural history treatise and were considered lavish products of art, the meticulously rendered specimens remained working figures of nature. The tulips are devoid of their natural habitat like most illustrations in natural history treatises are. A lack of environment allowed de Bry to focus on the individual details of the specimens. He portrays them in different stages of their blooming, and singles out a developing bulb, and a petal. Coloring enhanced the image’s ability to capture nature’s multiplicity. The different shades of pink, red, yellow, and orange that the artist applied to display the chromatic diversity of tulips allowed the viewer to differentiate between specimens and properly identify them. Ultimately, the illustrations brought gardens into the study room of the viewer, who could use them both as pieces to adore and to learn from.

Cotton tree specimen with moth, butterfly and caterpillars in Merian’s publication on Surinamese insects

Pomegranate tree with butterflies and caterpillar in Merian’s publication on Surinamese insects

German-born naturalist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian proved that coloring could serve the practices of natural history, artistic endeavors, and business interests simultaneously. In 1699, breaking with societal and gender norms of the time, she traveled to the Dutch colony of Suriname with her two daughters, Dorothea and Johanna. On the Caribbean island, she exploited the physical labor of the enslaved African populations who had cleared the way for her into the deepest forests of Suriname and ensured her access to an uncharted habitat of specimens. Merian also capitalized on the local indigenous knowledge about plants. She turned some of this knowledge, as well as her close observations and detailed studies of plants and insects, into a financially successful publication back home, the Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium (“The Metamorphosis of Surinamese Insects”) .

Peacock flower with moth and caterpillar in Merian’s publication on Surinamese insects

Colors played a huge role in the organization of her book for several reasons. First, Merian firmly believed that colors were a prominent tool for the proper practice of natural history. In her verbal descriptions, she uses adjectives and modifiers of colors abundantly. Phrases like the “sulfur yellow” of the cotton, and “gold and silvery like peacock feathers” helped Merian to express the rich ranges of colors she had perceived in nature. However, she often claims that “no pen could describe the beauty” of these specimens. Merian and her daughters applied a remarkable palette of colors to the images to overcome the limitations of words. The fact that she performed and controlled the entire coloring process indicates the level of importance she attributed to colors. Second, exquisite coloring also raised the price tag of her books. Elite collectors could spend anywhere from 45 to 100 florins on hand-colored copies, depending on the quality of the paper used for the prints (for reference, a skilled urban worker earned less than half of this monthly at the time). Colors created an elevated aesthetic experience of the specimens, and also a vivid encounter with nature and its creations.

Thistle plant with moths, pupa, and caterpillar in Merian’s publication on Surinamese insects

Pineapple with insects in Merian’s publication on Surinamese insects

Indian jasmine tree with butterflies and caterpillar in Merian’s publication on Surinamese insects

Illustration of a red poppy in Blackwell’s herbal

Coloring played an important role in identifying plants in herbals. Herbals were books that contained descriptions and illustrations of medicinal plants. An especially popular example at the time is A Curious Herbal by Elizabeth Blackwell. Published in four waves, this herbal was not for the faint of heart. Large in scale and hefty, the book series was catered to physicians and apothecaries for indoor consultation. The information and the images in the books helped them to concoct medications from the specimens they had gathered. Blackwell was one of the many female artists in the 1700s who gained a name and money with botanical illustrations, a genre that male artists had found lesser compared to historical and mythological paintings. Blackwell produced her herbal to raise money to pay for her husband’s debts and secure his release from prison. The outstanding quality of her work made it a desirable item, and thus, helped her earn enough money to grant her husband's freedom.

Illustration of a dandelion in Blackwell’s herbal

Blackwell drew, engraved, and hand-colored all her illustrations, a work typically performed by three individual artists. She based her illustrations on her observations of plant specimens in the Chelsea Physic Garden. For instance, she portrays the dandelion and its parts in beautiful detail. Blackwell illustrates the plant with luscious green leaves. She displays several flowers, seeds, and roots both enlarged and to scale. All parts of the plant were used to treat ailments. Teas made from the leaves and the flowers were thought to reduce fever and heal eye problems, and brews made from the root were conducive to healthy digestion. The fact that professional physicians and apothecaries relied on her herbal to assist their medicinal work attests both to the approval of coloring in scholarly circles and to its significance in practicing natural history.

Illustration of water lily roots in Blackwell’s herbal

Illustration of a white water lily in Blackwell’s herbal

Illustration of a wake robin in Blackwell’s herbal

Illustration of a hart’s tongue plant in Blackwell’s herbal

Illustration of a garden cucumber in Blackwell’s herbal

Illustration of love apples in Blackwell’s herbal

Explore other images in the second volume of Blackwell's Herbal as we turn the pages in this video: