An Oak Spring Flora: Flower Illustration from the Fifteenth Century to the Present Time- A Selection of the Rare Books, Manuscripts and Works of Art in the Collection of Rachel Lambert Mellon

Great care was taken by the author and the publishers--and by their sponsor, Oak Spring Foundation--to publish this wonderful partial inventory of the great books of botanic illustration in the Library at Oak Spring, an estate that was gifted to posterity by Rachel Lambert Mellon.This review of the extraordinary Oak Spring Library of original florilegium (books on flowers by the greatest botanic illustrators of history) is done magnificently using fine papers and inks. Thus the production of this book on books is carefully and thoughtfully done.The book reviews are well written and thorough, and the Reader will be pleased to find excellent reproductions of select prints from these important books in color.This reader, knowledgeable on this subject, saw reproductions in this book that are from books he has only read about but not seen. This was a most pleasant surprise, and for this, we are grateful.Clearly, Rachel Lambert Mellon has assembled a magnificent legacy--obtaining what I thought were the unobtainable in the botanic literature.This book is a testament and is a must have for those who are assembling their own library.By combining this book with the fine Taschen publication, THE GARDEN OF EDEN--the inventory of the botanic collection in the Austrian National Library--the collector of botanic illustration will have an excellent survey of the primary sources in this field. I should note that the Garden of Eden is by the noted Professor Doctor H.Walter Lack of Berlin.

Informative and brilliant illustrations.

A beautiful book on the amazing library of Mrs. Paul Mellon.