Jan McDonald on botanical books
'Although I have privileged access, in fact these are books which were bought for all Australians.'
– Jan McDonald
About this video
Come behind the scenes as Rare Books Librarian Jan McDonald showcases two of her favourite volumes of botanical illustrations from the early 19th century.
One book contains depictions of Australian plants collected by scientific illustrator Austrian Ferdinand Bauer. The other, by the decorative French painter of flowers Pierre-Joseph Redouté, captures the blooms growing in Josephine Bonaparte’s garden at Malmaison, including that ever-popular Australian shrub, the egg-and-bacon plant.
