Illustrated Books

The Library’s collections of illustrated books date from the 15th century to the present, and include large numbers of books on natural history, travel, classical antiquities, and daily life.  The natural history books include William Hamilton’s 1776 Campi Phlegraei on the eruptions of Mt. Vesuvius, and many of the most significant works in botany and ornithology, including books by Leonhardt Fuchs, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Edward Lear, and John Gould.   The collections on classical antiquity include Stuart & Revett’s 1762 Antiquities of Athens;  Robert Wood’s books from the 1750s on the ruins at Palmyra and Balbec, and the massive Description de l’Égypte (1809-1828).  The Library also has a collection of 70 emblem books, a popular form of literature in Europe from the 16th to the early 18th centuries that combined allegorical illustrations with texts on morality and religion.  For further information about the collections, see the library’s guides to Botanical Works and Emblem Books, and the online exhibitions Luxuriant Nature Smiling Round, Mapping New Worlds, and The Invention of Antiquity.