These days we tend to think of botanical art as merely pretty paintings. However before the age of the camera, this was the only way to record seed, flower, leaf and root. This work, often funded by the very wealthy, was often completed on long expeditions so the artist needed a robust constitution, as well as an eye for fine detail. A new book called The Golden Age of Botanical Art (published jointly by Kew and Andre Deutsch, £25) gives a fascinating insight into the process. Eighteen chapters follow the historical rise of the illustrator from the age of the ancient herbals to present day, visiting country after country on the way. Written by Martyn Rix, botanist and editor of Curtis’ Botanical Magazine, it’s full of fascinating detail. But if you didn’t read a word of this book, it would still be enjoyable due to the lavish illustrations. Victoria amazonica, the waterlily first persuaded into flower by Joseph Paxton (1803-1865 ), the head gardener at Chatsworth, spans a double page for instance. It’s just one of many jaw-dropping illustrations that make you drool.

The book begins in North America with the likes of John Tradescant the Younger (1608–62) whose little book Museum Tradescantianum (1656) can be seen in the Ashmolean Museum. This only lists the plants, but they were illustrated by Alexander Marshal in his Florilegium which was presented to George IV in the 1820s. It remains part of the Royal Collection.

Illustrating and collecting could be hazardous experiences. John Banister (1654–92) was a graduate of Magdalen College and he studied the American plants growing in the city’s botanic garden, under Oxford’s first Professor of Botany – Robert Morrison. Banister was sent to Virginia by Bishop Henry Compton of London and became a founder member of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. This clergyman-botanist sent back seeds to Compton and the plants were grown in his Fulham Palace Garden, which is still open free of charge. (fulhampalace.org). During his 38 years at Fulham Palace, Compton was able “to collect a greater number of green-house rarities and to plant a greater variety of hardy exotic trees and shrubs, than had been seen in any garden in England.”

(Faulkner 1813). Compton grew the first magnolia in Europe (Magnolia virginiana) at Fulham. His exotics were grown in early greenhouses called stovehouses and his famous cork oak (Quercus suber) lived on into the early 20th century. The Virginian black walnut (Julgans nigra) still grows in the palace grounds today. His prodigy Banister didn’t last as long unfortunately. He was accidentally shot dead by Jacob Colson, a colleague, while exploring Southern Virginia. Empress Josephine (1763–1814) “gardened extravagantly” (to use Martyn Rix’s words) at Malmaison, her garden ten miles west of Paris. Josephine engaged Pierre Joseph Redouté, possibly the most famous flower painter of all, to illustrate Les Jardins de Malmaison which was published in 20 parts between 1805 and 1805. Empress Josephine’s collection of roses was also painted by Redouté in Les Roses, becoming his most famous work. The Golden Age of Botanical Art is fascinating and my book of the year.