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Traditionally, preservation in botanical libraries and archives has meant the
preservation of materials such as those listed on this page. Indeed, many people think of
preservation as having to do exclusively with "special collections" and old / rare / valuable items.
Certainly the items listed below fall into those categories, but what people often forget is that when
those items were created, they were often just normal publications, working files, illustrations
and letters created by botanists doing their research. These materials continue to have research
value today, and institutions that have such items in their collections do what they can to
preserve them for the future.
The images listed below, except for the CBHL logo or as otherwise noted, have been provided
courtesy of the Trustees of The Natural History Museum, London, and any rights to the images as
they appear on our pages are held by them. Special thanks are due to Malcolm Beasley, Botany
Librarian at NHM, who wrote the captions for the images.
To reduce the load time for this page, most images have been listed as links but not actually
shown on the page; clicking the links will bring up the images in a separate window. We hope
you will enjoy this interesting and educational tour of samples from the botanical documentary
record of the past, using examples from the collections of The Natural History Museum, London.
Note: The categories below are not mutually exclusive, as indeed an item might logically be put under any of several categories.
This is just one set of groupings possible for the material listed. 
Documentation of voyages and collecting trips
A manuscript field notebook and an original watercolour sketch on paper of South African plants, made during one of Francis Masson's (1741-1805) collecting trips in the Cape area, during 1772-1775 .
 Specimens of Pelargonium collected by Francis Masson in South Africa. The specimens, artwork and
notes combine to give a critical record of his work.
Original watercolour on paper of Castanospermum australe and the actual specimen from Cook's
first voyage of 1768 - 1771.
Map showing the route of Cook on the Endeavour during his first voyage of circumnavigation.
Captain Cook's ship, the Endeavour, beached at Endeavour River for repairs during his first voyage
of circumnavigation. On board were many specimens, botanical and zoological notes and paintings
still preserved today in London. The engraving comes from the Journal of the voyage.
Specimen of Banksia serrata, actually collected on Cook's First Voyage at Botany Bay, Australia.
A hand coloured printed map on paper depicting the routes of many early explorers to South America.
Early maps provide essential reference to where observations were made and suggest where
specimens may have been collected, if no records are otherwise available or preserved.
Some may have been lost during the journeys themselves.
Examples of storage containers used to try to bring back living plants from overseas in the 18th
century. Documentation such as this must be kept to provide even a brief record of techniques,
equipment and practices used in early horticulture.
George Forrest (1873-1932) and his dog photographed during one of his collecting expeditions
to China or Tibet. Note the style of fieldwear and equipment carried. Are your expeditions
photographed or visually recorded or otherwise documented in any way?
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Early publications
One of the earliest botanical books with symbolic woodcut illustrations. By Apulleius Barbarus, 1481.
Hand painted natural history woodcut image from the Buch der Natur, printed in Augsburg,1475.
Hand coloured printed title page of a German Krauterbuch of the late 16th century, based on the works of Dioscorides, an early Greek
botanist.
Letters and manuscripts
Manuscript page by Sir John Hill. An example of his
handwriting, which with others provides essential comparative reference material for historical research. Handwriting changes during a lifetime and has to be documented somehow.
Unique illustrated manuscript letter from Joseph von Jacquin, Professor of Botany in Vienna, c.1790.
Rare, unpublished work
One of the earliest coloured ink sketches on paper from the Cape area of South Africa, believed to have been painted by a Dutchman, ca. 1700.
Watercolour on paper c.1791 depicting a landscape in Java from the voyage of the Recherche, on which Deschamps was the naturalist. The
unpublished autograph journals were to form a Flora Javanica.
Hand-colored, printed plates
Hand coloured printed book, Pomona Herefordiensis, 1811, by Thomas Knight (1759 - 1838). Apple shown is a Golden Harvey. He was one of the very early genetic researchers, breeding apples for cider production.
Hand coloured printed plate showing Agaricus muscarius, from a work on British fungi.
Hand coloured printed plate from Vol.1 of Scottish
cryptogamic flora, by Robert Kaye Greville, 1823.
A collection of heliconia plates from books, kept as reference tools for use in picture research enquiries.
Hand coloured printed plate of Magnolia campbellii from J.D.Hooker's Illustrations of Himalayan Plants, 1855.
Another example of a hand coloured printed plate from the book Scottish Cryptogamic Flora, 1822.
A hand coloured printed plate of Sedum carneum variegatum from The Illustrated Bouquet, by Mrs. Withers, 1861-64. Plants depicted growing in pots are another rather unusual theme, of interest to the horticultural historian. The art paper used for such illustrations can often be brittle.
Botanical printing history
A nature print by Auer, from his Naturselbstdruckes of 1853, made in Vienna and possibly one of the finest examples of such rare material. The copper plates used for this work remain preserved in Vienna today.
J. Sowerby et al., English Botany (1790-1866). The original coloured sketch of Dipsacus sylvestris on paper, and the first and second
edition printed versions.
This is the original illustration drawn by Hans Sloane of the cocoa tree and its pods. [Apologies for the oversized copyright statement superimposed on image.] It is accompanied in the same oversize folio, bound volume of artworks and specimens by the actual specimens! It is held in a herbarium, not a library, which highlights the essential overlap and need for a collaborative approach to conservation and preservation issues.
An example of a copper printing plate and the image pulled from it after restoration work. The item relates to Engelbert Kaempfer's (1651-1716) voyage to Japan c.1710 and was used to print the book relating to that journey.
Tree portraits and scenes
A hand finished colour folio-sized print of Sequoia
wellingtonia. Books depicting whole trees so magnificently are comparatively
rare.
Sepia printed title page of Die Riesen der Pflanzenwelt by Eduard Mielck, 1863. This is an unusual style of botanical publishing, offering romantic scenic views and ecological scenes from nature.
A cedar tree in the garden of the palace at Enfield, near London. Lithograph on paper from the book Sylva Britannica by Jacob George Strutt, 1822.
Title pages
Title page of the 1576 work by L'Obel titled Plantarum, seu Stirpium Historia. An example of the diverse older literature needed by botanists and in particular, plant taxonomists. This might have to be used just as a modern day journal might be needed, in such work.
Title page of Volume 2 of the very famous periodical Curtis' Botanical Magazine, 1788.
Hand coloured printed book, 1697, Horti Medici Amstelodamensis rariorum Plantarum Historia.
Unique illustrations
Original unique watercolour on paper of Chinese fruits by an unknown artist in Canton, c.1850 Painted for John Reeves, a wealthy merchant with interest in natural history, working for the Honourable East India Company.
A pencil and watercolour sketchbook by Georg Ehret (1708-1770), c. 1740.
Another of Ehret's watercolour sketches.
Original watercolour on paper by Francis Bauer (1758 - 1840) of the Cedar of Lebanon, dated April 10th, 1805 and probably painted at Kew Gardens, London.
Pencil and watercolour sketch on paper of Passiflora by Ferdinand Bauer (1760 -1826).
Watercolour sketch on paper of the Magnolia Warbler, by William Bartram (1739-1823) from the eastern seaboard of America.
Wash and ink sketch on paper of a daffodil, from a bound volume of artwork by James Bolton ( ?-1799), an amateur naturalist and artist from Halifax, Yorkshire, England, 1786.
One of three volumes of unique original illustrated notes from the botanical gardens at Pisa, Italy, c.1713-30. The artist is Tilli, Michael Angelus (1655-1740). Potentially a very significant historical document. The colour of the illustrations is very fresh and the paper in
good condition due to excellent storage and little use over the years. The volumes are bound in vellum, which can suffer from environmental changes, stressing the binding and eventually leading to its failure.
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