Wendy Walsh, following in the traditions of botanical artists from previous ages, has put her exceptional skills to marvellous effect in this beautiful collection of watercolour drawings. She has painted here a selection of the native and cultivated flora of Ireland, where she lives, chosen not only for their botanical interest or attractiveness but also because they happen to have an interesting history: Ireland has produced a surprising number of devoted and intrepid plant-hunters who played a significant part in the introduction into Europe of plants from remote places. Ruth Isabel Ross recounts the history of plant collecting and horticulture by the Irish since earliest times, and Dr Charles Nelson has written extensive notes on the individual plants. The main attraction of this book, however, remains the delicate and subtle watercolour drawings of Wendy Walsh, who works only from nature, painting the actual plants which are her subjects.

The delicate and subtle watercolor drawings of Wendy Walsh, who works only from nature, painting the actual plants that are her subjects. Following in the tradition of an earlier age, Wendy Walsh has put her exceptional skills to splendid effect in this beautiful collection of watercolor drawings. She has painted a selection of the flora of Ireland, chosen not only for their botanical interest or attractiveness but also because they happen to have an interesting history. For Ireland has produced a surprising number of devoted and intrepid plant-hunters who played a significant part in the introduction into Europe of specimens from remote and exotic places. Ruth Isabel Ross, a horticultural journalist in Dublin, recounts the history of plant collecting and horticulture by the Irish since the earliest times, and Charles Nelson, of the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin, has written extensive notes on the individual plants. 48 hand-tipped color plates.

The watercolors of award-winning botanical artist Wendy Walsh portray a personal selection of the plants that grow wild in Ireland or are cultivated in Irish gardens. They are accompanied by the lively storytelling and accessible horticultural descriptions of botanist E. Charles Nelson. The great gardens, famous plantsmen, legendary journeys, and natural phenomena that have shaped the flora of Ireland are illustrated and described in thematic selections.

Nineteen papers on early medieval Irish and Welsh texts. Contents include: St Patrick in Cornwall? The origin and transmission of Vita Tertia S. Patricii ( David Dumville ); Re-reading Dafydd ap Gwilym ( Patrick Ford ); The spoils of Annwn: Taliesin and material poetry ( Sarah Lynn Higley ); Aldfirth of Northumbria and the learning of a sapiens ( Colin Ireland ); Narrative openers and progress markers in Irish ( Proinsias Mac Cana ); The Hagiographic poetics of Canu Cadfan ( Catherine McKenna ); The introduction of alphabetic writing to Ireland ( Michael Richter ); Daring young men in their chariots ( Joseph Falaky Nagy ); The Celtic bard ( J. E. Caerwyn Bard ).

A compact edition of Joseph Banks’ extraordinary botanical engravings of flora discovered on Captain Cook’s first voyage. Joseph Banks accompanied Captain Cook on his first voyage around the world from 1768 to 1771. A gifted and wealthy young naturalist, Banks collected exotic flora from Madeira, Brazil, Tierra del Fuego, the Society Islands, New Zealand, Australia, and Java, bringing back over 1,300 species that had never been seen or studied by Europeans. On his return, Banks commissioned over 700 engravings. Known collectively as Banks’ Florilegium, they are some of the most precise and exquisite examples of botanical illustration ever created. The Florilegium was never published in Banks’ lifetime, and it was not until 1990 that a complete set in color was issued under the direction of the British Museum. It is from these prints that the new compact edition of Joseph Banks’ Florilegium is selected, as directed by David Mabberley, who has provided expert botanical commentaries. Art historian Mel Gooding sets the works in context while an afterword by Joe Studholme describes the history of modern printing. Joseph Banks’ Florilegium is not only a great work of science, but also a major achievement in collaborative Enlightenment art and a volume of outstanding beauty.

Presents a collection of botanical paintings along with descriptions of the artists' techniques and backgrounds.