This book focuses on five natural history artists--Leonardo da Vinci, Cassiano dal Pozzo, Alexander Marshal, Maria Sybilla Merian, and Mark Catesby--and their works that are now held in the Royal Collection. They each represent a period in time, from about 1470-1730.

It was interesting to read about the diverse backgrounds of each of these artists and about what inspired them to draw. This isn't a super comprehensive natural history art book but more a snapshot of the works of a few prolific pioneers.

http://webereading.com/2018/02/the-natural-world-past-and-present.html ( )

Grad school suddenly cut in on recreational reading, so it took considerably longer to finish things I started late summer. David Attenborough does the introduction and a couple pages per chapter, but there's another 3 authors that cover the various artists. Absolutely gorgeous book; early scientific plates are works of art. ( )

David Attenborough geeking out over Da Vinci sketches. If that doesn't sound awesome to you, neither do I. ( )

This wonderful book contains works of natural history by Leonardo Da Vinci, The Paper Museum collection, Alexander Marshal, Maria Sibylla Merian and Mark Catesby. The color plates are a treasure. I viewed this exhibition in 2007 at Holyrood House. These very works inspired my launch into botanical art.
Reviewed by Linda C. Miller ( )

Subtitled "The Art of Natural History in the Age of Discovery" - this book has chapters focused on 5 different artists mostly from the 17th and 18th century (plus Leonardo Da Vinci from the 15th-16th C). There are brief biological sketches for each, and short descriptions about their methods of research. But the bulk of the book is devoted to prints of the art produced by these people. This is, essentially, a small-format coffee table book more intended to be admired than read. Heavy paper and beautiful full-color illustrations make the book a delight, but there is very little textual content. ( )