Travellers in Ottoman Lands: The Botanical Legacy
Caroline Stone
Ines Aščerić-Todd, Sabine Knees, Janet Starkey and Paul Starkey, eds.
2018, ASTENE and Archaeopress Publishing LTD., 0-781-78491-9-153, $95 pb.
This rich and varied collection of essays, covering individuals ranging from Dioscorides to Dame Freya Stark, is divided into four parts: “The Ottoman Garden,” “Botanist-Travellers,” “Bulbs and Conifers” and “Art and Botany.” These focus on historical descriptions of gardens and the evidence about them drawn from manuscript illustrations; accounts of the visitors who recorded or brought back so many of the favorite plants in Western gardens today; ecology and conservation; and the influence of trees and flowers on Ottoman art and textiles. The volume is of obvious value to scholars and will also appeal to anyone interested in the history of gardens and garden design, plant transmissions and those who journeyed to the Ottoman world. The book’s maps, notes and bibliography are excellent as is the biographical information about the authors it features.
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