Of Green Leaf Bird and Flower Artists' Books and the Natural World edited by Elisabeth Fairman

Of Green Leaf Bird and Flower Artists' Books and the Natural World is a joyous catalog born for accompanying the art exhibit Of Green Leaf and Flower Artists' Books and the Natural World; the catalog was released by Yale Press in collaboration with Yale Center for British Art.
A poetic homage of passionate lovers and curators, edited by Elisabeth Fairman senior curator of rare books and manuscripts at the Yale Center for British Art, with essays by Robert McCracken Peck, Molly Duggins, David Burnett.
Yale University was gifted by a passionate naturalist Paul Mellon, founder of this Yale's branch and although American, Mellon was a true lover and estimator of the British countryside, houses, parks. With the time Mellon accumulated a lot of prestigious, beautiful manuscripts, rare ones sometimes, and once dead most of this stunning collection donated to Yale.
This exhibit reveals thanks to the pages of passionate authors, observers, known people devoted to the natural world for the most diversified reasons, the absolute stunning beauty of nature, thanks to wonderful imagines, sketches, pictures.
This catalog and exhibit takes in consideration books starting from the XV century.
There was who tried at first to classify plants, animals; soon in UK people created a lot of nature local clubs for all passionate; later in particular women's traveller during the 1700s created beautiful journals and books thanks to scrapbooking, collages, annotations,  observations. Men were also voracious botanical passionate. John Stuart Mill didn't pass at history just for being a philosopher and a great, important thinker but also for being  a great collectors of herbs; his massive herbarium counts twelve thousand plants; yes the man didn't joke! at all and thanks to his numerous friends and connections and the ability of sharing, swapping he collected herbs from places that he has never visited, located sometimes in the most remote corners of the world.
Analyzed also Victorian period and the reaction at the beauty of natural world, and a stunning portrait of an artist of 70 years in a wheelchair, great collaborator of Oxford University Press and children's book's author Sister Margaret Tournour.
Enjoy The Field Guide to the British Countryside where the most magnificent illustrations, paintings, modern realization will let you discover the beauty, dreaming landscape with its flora and fauna of UK.

While I was reading this catalog, observing these poetic pictures, images, drawings I thought that it's inspiring. Inspiring for going into the wood, into that wild world in particular for people living in a big city for searching for a wonderful connection with nature, animals that want just to welcome us and let us celebrate their beauty. It is possible to share this catalog with children as well encouraging them at the creation of beautiful journals, or scrapbooks where they will collect tree-leaves, flowers, starting to discover nature. If they are also talented little painters, it would be great to see their creations in motion. It's important to appreciate, love and nurture nature and its poeticity. It will save our world and our soul presenting us beauty and relaxation.
I was watching last night on TV the second movie of The Lord of the Rings and I thought at the last name of mr. Mellon; in the elfic language invented by Tolkien it means friend.

Highly recommended to all the adventurers, explorators and appreciators of the natural beauty of the world.

I thank Yale University Press for the physical copy of this catalog.

Anna Maria Polidori