Synopsis
An exquisite special signed and limited edition of the exhilarating new book from the author of the worldwide bestseller The Tulip
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Anna Pavord is the gardening correspondent for the Independent and the author of eight previous books, including the bestselling The Tulip. She contributes to a number of magazines, both in the US and the UK and regularly fronts programmes for BBC Radio 3 and 4. She chairs the Gardens Panel of the National Trust and sits on the Parks and Gardens Panel of English Heritage. She lives in Dorset, England, where she spent thirty years restoring the garden of an old rectory. She has recently moved to a new house and started another garden. She is married and has three daughters.
From Publishers Weekly
Pavord, author of the The Tulip and an expert gardener, traces the history of plant taxonomy from the ancient Greeks to 17th-century British botanist John Ray in this hefty tome, and though her passion for plants is apparent on every page, readers who don't share the same level of enthusiasm will be frustrated by Pavord's encyclopedic approach. Pavord, in prose as rich and colorful as the too-infrequent illustrations, contextualizes plant classification within larger intellectual, political and cultural spheres, but she verges dangerously close to writing a textbook; the vast amount of information she packs into brief, rapid-fire sections can overwhelm. In the best sections, she slows down to draw detailed portraits of researchers and describe how each contributed to the slowly evolving (and, until the late 1600's, unnamed) science of botany. Ray, for instance, marked "a quiet, lonely, dogged consummation" with "no fireworks, no claps of thunder, no swelling symphonic themes" when, shortly before his death and suffering from gangrene, he penned the six fundamental rules of botany. Pavord's prose dazzles, but it's not enough to carry readers with a casual interest in plants or gardening through an otherwise dense history.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Search results for The Naming of Names
Seller Image
The Naming of Names: The Search for Order in the World of Plants
Published by
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2005
ISBN 10: 0747582394
ISBN 13: 9780747582397
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Bill & Ben Books, Faringdon, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardback. "The Naming of Names" traces the search for order in the natural world, a search that for hundreds of years occupied some of the most brilliant minds in Europe. Redefining man's relationship with nature was an important feature of the Renaissance. But in a world full of plaques and poisons, there was also a practical need to name and recognise different plants: most medicines were made from plant extracts. Anna Pavord takes us on a thrilling adventure into botanical history, travelling from Athens in the third century BC, through Constantinople, Venice, the medical school at Salerno to the universities of Pisa and Padua. The journey, traced here for the first time, involves the culture of Islam, the first expeditions to the Indies and the first settlers in the New World. In Athens, Aristotle's pupil, Theophrastus, is the first man ever to write a book about plants. What should these things properly be called, he asks. How can we sort and order them? The debate continues still, two thousand years later. Gradually, over a long period in Europe, plants assumed identities and acquired names. Artists painted the first pictures of them. Plants acquired the two-part names that show how they are related to other plants. But who began all this work, and how was it done? Sumptuously produced with real olive cloth binding and four colour printed inset illustration and illustrated in full colour, this special edition is a must-have companion to "The Tulip" special edition. Seller Inventory # 0101947
Buy Used
US$ 14.16
Shipping:
US$ 13.29
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
The Naming of Names: The Search for Order in the World of Plants
Published by
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2005
ISBN 10: 0747582394
ISBN 13: 9780747582397
Used
Hardcover
Seller: The Secret Book and Record Store, Dublin, DUB, Ireland
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. This is a collectible copy, signed by the author and one of a limited print run of 550 copies. Slight shelf wear only, otherwise as new. Seller Inventory # 6651
Seller Image
The naming of names: the search for order in the world of plants
Published by
Bloomsbury, 2005
ISBN 10: 0747582394
ISBN 13: 9780747582397
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Signed
Seller: Acanthophyllum Books, Holywell, FLINT, United Kingdom
Seller rating 3 out of 5 stars
Hard covers, no dust jacket. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. Signed by the author. Very well chosen illustrations from antiquarian sources, though the title is a little obscure (better in the German translation, "Wie die Pflanzen zu ihren Namen kamen". 472 pp. Weight: 1.0 Language: English 1st edition, 1st impression (special limited edition). Seller Inventory # 38322
Buy Used
US$ 37.94
Shipping:
US$ 28.88
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Quantity: 1 available