Help find a specific botanic illustration coffee table book

December 16, 2023 1:13 PM

Earlier this year I was in a fancy home boutique store and they had a gorgeous coffee table book. I recall that it was very realistic photos or illustrations of flowers and flowering plants with some of the illustrations/photos as vivisections showing some of the internal structures of the flowers. I cannot find this book or anything like it anywhere in my searching.

The book was definitely being sold as new, and I would guess it was published fairly recently. There are so many books about botanical subjects and flowers that I really just couldn't sort through to find anything that was quite like this book. I absolutely cannot remember the title or exactly what the book looked like but I think the title was something pretty descriptive (like Botanical Anatomy or the Anatomy of Flowers).

posted by forkisbetter to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Florilegium?
posted by mochapickle at 1:31 PM on December 16, 2023

Botanicum?
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:02 PM on December 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Maybe a book with paintings of Maria Sybilla Merian? There are a number of coffee table books, the one i linked is the most recent.
posted by 15L06 at 6:59 PM on December 16, 2023

If you know what store it was, you can often short-cut the search by calling the store and asking. Mention that you really liked their staging, especially some of the beautiful books, and perhaps their staging person will help you out. That kind of thing has worked for me a couple of times
posted by TimHare at 7:16 PM on December 16, 2023

Response by poster: All of the illustrations in this book were vivisections - flowers carefully cut in half with the different parts labeled and text talking about the differences in the structures; not just botanical illustrations of whole plants or flowers.
posted by forkisbetter at 9:17 AM on December 17, 2023

Best answer: If this isn't the right book, it might at least scratch the itch.

The Accidental Botanist: A Deconstructed Flower Book
posted by erolls at 11:51 AM on December 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

You might also try contacting a librarian at a botanical library. They would have an extensive knowledge of different books like this.

Helen Fowler Library
Mertz Library
posted by LKWorking at 8:38 AM on December 18, 2023

Response by poster: I'm 95% sure that erolls has the right book! Thank you!
posted by forkisbetter at 10:53 AM on December 18, 2023