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Western Libraries

Botanical Illustration Resources: Copyright Free Botanical Art

A Selected Bibliography created for the 1999 Northwest Botanical Illustration Symposium (updated frequently) Compiled by Julene Sodt, of the Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA

Copyright Free Botanical Art

Copyright Free Botanical Art

Bessette, Alan E. and William K. Chapman, eds. Plants and Flowers: 1,761 Illustrations for Artists and Designers. New York: Dover Publications, 1992. 289 pages.

Favorite Flowers:  CD-ROM and Book:  253 Permission-Free Designs. (Dover Electronic Clip Art).  Mineola, N.Y.:  Dover, 2002.
45 pages + 1 CD-ROM.

Grafton, Carol Belanger, ed. Victorian Floral Illustrations. New York: Dover, 1985.
        Reproductions of 344 wood engravings of exotic plants from Paxton’s Flower Garden (London, 1850-1853) and The Natural History of Plants (London, 1902). The pictures are very clear with great attention given to detail and scientific accuracy. Latin and common names are provided for all examples. 107 pages.

Harter, Jim, ed. The Plant Kingdom Compendium: a Definitive Volume of More Than 2,400 Copyright-Free Engravings. New York: Bonanza Books, 1988.
        Plant wood engravings primarily from the late Victorian period (1875-1995). Works are arranged alphabetically by plant family. 374 pages.

Hatton, Richard G. and Richard C. Hatton. 1001 Plant and Floral Illustrations: From Early Herbals. (Dover Pictorial Archive). New York: Dover, 1996. 244 pages.

Maggie, Kate.  Big Book of Plant and Flower Illustrations.  Mineola, N.Y.;  Dover Publications, 2000.

Menton, Theodore, ed. Decorative Floral Engravings; 118 Plates from the 1696 "Accurate Description of Terrestrial Plants" by Abraham Munting . New York: Dover, 1975. (QK 98.M85213 1975 Oversize)
        This book includes many trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses of temperate zones, along with a number of tropical and subtropical plants new to 17th-century Netherlands. 120 pages.

Menten, Theodore, ed. Plant and Floral Woodcuts for Designers and Craftsmen; 419 Illustrations from the Renaissance Herbal of Carolus Clusius. New York: Dover, 1974. (QK 41.L423.P55 1974 - Oversize)
        The illustrations are taken from Clusius’chief work, the Rariorum Plantarum Historia, 1601. Many of these illustrations were used to illustrate the expanded edition of Gerard’s Herball and other contemporary works. 184 pages.

Sweerts, Emanuel. Early Floral Engravings. New York: Dover Publications, 1976.
        Reproductions of all 110 copperplate engravings from the herbal Florilegium Emanuelis Sweerti Septimonti Batavi Amsteledami … (Frankfurt am Main, 1612). 67 pages.

Watson, Ernest William. Composition in Landscape and Still Life. Mineoloa, NJ: Dover Publications, 2007.