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In a recent article, Sachiko Kusukawa examines the importance of images “in the production and dissemination of knowledge about the natural world.” Kusukawa explains how illustrations were used as “proxies” for individual specimens and as a “record” for the object being depicted and described. Her analysis is not based on the scientific accuracy of the illustrations, but rather on their usefulness in contributing to the creation and proliferation of a “visual culture.” [1]  This “visual culture” was wide ranging and diverse, encompassing, for example, images of the indigenous flora of Germany meticulously studied and described for the first time by Hieronymus Bock – to exciting new specimens from the New World being introduced into Europe. Moreover, starting in the sixteenth century those involved in the production of natural histories came to view nature not simply in scientific terms, but as something “beautiful” and images were an important vehicle for depicting this splendor in printed format.

This diverse collection brings together images of the natural world, both zoological and botanical, found in books published in Europe between 1550 and 1780. It features, for instance, hand-colored woodcuts of Pierre Belon’s seminal treatise on birds, L'histoire de la nature des oyseaux - to the copperplate engravings in Elizabeth Blackwell’s lesser known 18^th century work, A Curious Herbal. Biographical information on the authors and artists employed in the production of the images can be found in the Exhibit section under Authors and Artists.  The goal is to continue adding images to the collection as well as explanatory essays.