Amazing Rare Things

Resumen del libro

The great voyages of discovery of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries brought European artists face to face with new and exotic plants and animals, and created an intense interest in the way nature was investigated and recorded. In Amazing Rare Things, Sir David Attenborough the renowned naturalist and documentary-maker, and one of the natural world's best loved commentators leaves the here-and-now to explore the history of natural history instead.

Joining expert curators from the Royal Library at Windsor Castle he explores the contributions of four great artists and one pre-eminent collector to this era of extraordinary scientific advances.

Profusely illustrated throughout, this book is organised around a selection of exquisite drawings and watercolours by Leonardo da Vinci, Alexander Marshal, Maria Sibylla Merian, and Mark Catesby; and the works collected by Cassiano dal Pozzo for his immense Paper Museum'. These beautiful images all held in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle reflect each artist's engagement with the natural world, from Renaissance Italy and England, and on to the New World of the Americas.

Sir David Attenborough's introduction, discussing representations of the natural world from prehistory to the present day, leads the reader on to detailed examinations of the passions and achievements of each of these five individuals, with fresh, lucid and thought-provoking commentaries provided throughout by Sir David on a range of their works.