Annual Literature Award >> Winners and Nominees >> Past Winners & Nominees
2012 Annual Literature Award Winners
General Interest category
In the Footsteps of Augustine Henry
by Seamus O’Brien
(Garden Art Press, 2011)
376 pages; 500 color illustrations
ISBN 9781870673730 (hardcover)
The life and travels of Henry, a renowned 19th century plant hunter, are brought to life in O’Brien’s fascinating account. A customs official in China during the last two decades of the 19th century, Henry collected and prepared over 158,000 dried specimens of more than 6,000 species. Not content to remain in the past, however, the book also describes the modern Chinese expeditions taken by the author as he retraced Henry’s routes. Written in a lively, accessible style and lavishly illustrated, the Annual Literature Award Committee applauds O’Brien’s creation of this thoroughly entertaining and informative work.Technical category
The Ambonese Herbal, Volumes 1-6
originally written by Georgius Everhardus Rumphius, translated and annotated by E.M. Beekman
(Yale University Press, 2011)
3360 pages (6 vols.); over 800 original illustrations
ISBN 9780300153767 (hardcover)
The trials of the 17th century naturalist Georgius Everhardus Rumphius are legendary! As an
employee for the Dutch East Indies Company, Rumphius journeyed to the Ambon archipelago
in eastern Indonesia in the mid-1600s. Spending several decades studying the native plants of
this region, he collected, cataloged, described and named plants, and prepared botanical
paintings for many hundreds of specimens. During this time, Rumphius also faced blindness, the
loss of his wife and daughter in an earthquake, the loss of his original drawings in a house fire
among other catastrophes including the Dutch East Indies Company forbidding publication of
his work. Through the efforts of E.M. Beekman, a new community of scholars and researchers
will now have access to Rumphius’s masterwork. Far more than a translation of Rumphius’s
magnus opus, E.M. Beekman provides a tremendous amount of biographical, contextual and
nomenclatural information to this work. Providing stunning insight into the world of 17th
century Indonesia, the CBHL Annual Literature Award Committee congratulates Professor
Beekman, his editor Jean Thomson Black and Yale University Press on this well deserved honor.
2011 Annual Literature Award Winners
General Interest category
Oak Spring Herbaria; Herbs and herbals from the Fourteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries
by Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi and Tony Willis
(Oak Spring Garden Library, 2009)
456 pages; 170 illustrations (72 duotones, 98 in full color).
ISBN 9780965450812 (hardcover)
This book is the latest in the Oak Spring Garden Library’s series of catalogs describing some of the works in their library. Much more than a mere catalog, however, An Oak Spring Herbaria delves into the history of herbals, their creators, and their significance in the botanical and publishing worlds. Lavishly illustrated (one of the nominators used the word “luscious”), and written in an easily understandable way, this book is a must-have for anyone interested in the history of botany, the history of medicine, or the history of the book. Along with winning our literature award, An Oak Spring Herbaria was also given the American Botanical Council’s James A. Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature Award in 2010. It richly deserves these awards, and any others that may come its way.Technical category
Keywords in American Landscape Design
by Therese O’Malley
(Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art in association with Yale University Press, 2010)
736 pages; 881 b/w + 106 color illustrations
ISBN 9780300101744 (hardcover)
An incredible dictionary of 17th to 19th century American landscape terms, Keywords in American Landscape Design, provides an indispensible source for scholars of American landscape design. Using illustrations, descriptions, and excerpts from contemporary sources, the author has created a distinctly original resource of great value. Lauded by the Annual Literature Award Committee, “O’Malley provides a whole new methodology for studying and understanding landscape [design]. It is absolutely breathtaking in the scope of the scholarship and in the investigation of such a range of primary resources across so many fields”.
2010 Annual Literature Award Winners
General Interest category
The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession
by Andrea Wulf
(Alfred A. Knopf, 2009)
368 pages, Hardcover
ISBN 978-0-307-27023-8Technical category
Ireland’s Wild Orchids: A Field Guide
by Brendan Sayers & Susan Sex
(published by The Authors, 2008)
119 pages, colour drawings, colour photos, spiralbound
ISBN 978-0-9564182-0-3; hardcover
2009 Annual Literature Award Winners
General Interest category
Fruits and Plains: the Horticultural Transformation of America
by Philip J. Pauly,
(Harvard University Press, 2008)
336 pages, 34 halftones, 3 line illus, 11 maps;
ISBN 9780881928198; hardcoverTechnical category
Genera Palmarum : the Evolution and Classification of Palms, 2nd ed.
by John Dransfield, Natalie W. Uhl, Conny B. Asmussen, William J. Baker, Madeline M. Harley, and Carl E. Lewis
(by Kew Publishing, 2008),
744 pages, line drawings, colour photos;
ISBN 9781842461822; hardcover (£79.00)Special mention
Taxonomic Literature : a Selective Guide to Botanical Publications and Collections with Dates, Commentaries and Types, 2nd edition
by Originally created by Frans Antonie Stafleu and Richard S. Cowan; continued by Laurence J. Dorr, Erik A. Mennega and Dan H. Nicolson
(suppl. VII :by A.R.G. Gantner Verlag K.G., 2008),
744 pages, line drawings, colour photos; hardcover
2008 Annual Literature Award Winners
General Interest category
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Encyclopedia of Garden Ferns by Sue Olsen (Timber Press, Portland, OR, 2007) 144 pages; 8.5 x 11 inches; 700 color photos, 4 b/w photos, 2 line drawings ISBN 9780881928198; hardcover |
Technical category
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Order out of Chaos: Linnean Plant Names and Their Types by Charlie Jarvis (Linnean Society of London, in association with the History Museum, London, 2007) 1016 pages; 28.2 x 23.4 x 5.6 cm; col. & b&W ill. ISBN 9780950620770; hardcover |
See also : Past winners (Archives 2000-2007)