• First full biography of James Sowerby using some new, as well as extensive scholarly resources

• Provides authoritative and enlightening accounts of how some of the most important botanical works were produced and used.

• Covers the importance of botany at a time of much scientific development and the role of art in the development of taxonomy

• Beautifully illustrated with Sowerby’s artwork, along with extracts from letters, manuscripts and publications involving natural historiansJames Sowerby (1757-1822) was an outstanding artist and natural historian, renowned for his discoveries and prodigious output of beautiful, scientific books of plants, fungi, animals, fossils and minerals, all at a key historical time; the age of Enlightenment in Great Britain.

Beautifully illustrated with artwork and letter and manuscript extracts, this first full biography of Sowerby is a fascinating artistic and historical account, which extends beyond that of one key player.