The Plant Hunters
The Adventures of the World’s Greatest Botanical Explorers
Review Quotes
New Scientist
“In The Plant Hunters, Carolyn Fry sketches out humankind’s enduring hunger for botanical riches. She steps back 3,500 years to Ancient Egypt, then visits different parts of the globe and celebrates the contributions of important personalities like Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks. This journey is told through a series of lavishly illustrated two-page spreads, each distilling an episode in the history of plant collecting down to its most engaging details. . . . Full of fun facts, intriguing asides.”
Wall Street Journal
“Delightfully, the book includes pouches filled with facsimile documents, like sketches of rare orchids. It’s like finding precious leaves pressed between the pages.”
Shelf Awareness
"From ancient Egypt to 17th-century tulipomania to Joseph Hooker in the Himalaya to modern-day seed stockpiling, this handsome slipcased book is a delight."
English Garden
“Fry’s lavish book . . . takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the human history of the botanical world.”
British Book Design and Production Award | Winner
Scholarly, Academic and Reference Books category
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