Member Reviews

If you are looking for a coffee table book filled with exceptional illustrations of wild flowers, look no further. This book, filled with 120 full-color, detailed illustrations is the perfect reference for gardeners, botanists and artisits.

I received a complimentary advanced reader copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Was this review helpful?

This is a lovely collection of wild flower illustrations. Unfortunately, it doesn't have any text that details the plant or flower. Nevertheless, a lovely coffee table book, or a reference book for plant lovers.

Was this review helpful?

Modern edition of an old classic. I love wildflowers and this book is a true gem. Feels nostalgic in all the best of ways. I am still scouring the internet for the 1924 version, in its old vintage binding. :) Enjoyed see that this resource is newly printed with vibrancy and that it now has the added benefit of being portable on kindle for hikes :)

Was this review helpful?

This is a wonderful collection of plant images depicted by Mary Eaton.
The reproduction of prints brings to life the plants.
This is a collection reproduced by the national Geographic Society.
If you are a plant lover and do not have The Book of Wildflowers already, this is a must have.

Was this review helpful?

If you enjoy looking through a book of absolutely beautiful flower drawings, you will love and adore this book. I loved every single drawing in the book. It's incredible how many varieties of flowers can be found in nature and how delicate and beautiful each other. I have a soft spot for the poppies and sunflowers.

with gratitude to netgalley and Dover Publications for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

A beautiful collection of drawings from the 1920s of 250 plants and grasses. The plates are stunning and quite well detailed. Each one has the scientific name, the common name and family listed. Perhaps a bit more details of where these could be found would be nice, but overall a visual pleasure to look through. Would highly recommend.

Was this review helpful?

This is a compilation of lovely color paintings that Mary Eaton did for National Geographic in the 1920's. They have recently entered the public domain so Dover has compiled them in this book. The paintings are wonderful, but the price seems quite high ($23 for kindle, $25 for paperback) for a volume that consists solely on someone else's work and no new material.

That said, they are beautiful depictions. There tend to be two to three plants to a page, showing the plant in bloom and also its leaves, roots and berries. It says its common name (sometimes these are no longer used), its Latin name, and what family it's in.

This is an excellent book to get familiar with your local wildflowers, to start to learn the latin names of flowers, and to use for nature study drawing and painting inspiration. Had the price been a little more reasonable, I would have given it 4 stars. It is still a lovely book nonetheless.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

Was this review helpful?

Having long been a fan of Dover Books, it comes as no surprise that this is yet another gem. Beautiful illustrations have been collected from National Geographic magazines dating from 1915 to 1924, and includes work by Mary E. Eaton, staff illustrator of The New York Botanical Garden. Over 120 color plates depict state flowers, familiar grasses, and more, in stunning imagery.

As an illustrator, I appreciate the intricacy of the artwork, the vibrancy of the use of the colour and the overall effect of beauty, as enchanting to the modern reader as it was in times gone by. A wonderful gift, and certainly one worth having in hard copy, I recommend this book for all lovers of art, wildflowers, gardeners, artists, and botanists.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Dover and The National Geographic Society for my ARC.

Was this review helpful?

The Book of Wildflowers has beautiful illustrations and over 250 different wild flowers and grasses portrayed. Each image is accompanied by it's botanical name, common name and the plant family so you can easily identify what you are looking at. This would make a wonderful reference for anyone interested in gardening, botany or for a school.

My only negative, is that there was no index or reference to easily find a certain plant by page number, at least in the e-version that I received. I think it would have been nice to include that or a chapter breakout for finding individual flowers a bit easier.

Overall, this is a wonderful book that can act as a beautiful coffee table book or as a reference!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary eARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this opportunity!

Was this review helpful?

I really enjoyed this book. It’ll be a great reference in my own artwork, as I’m studying botanical painting and am not very familiar with names of plants. I can see referencing this book often to find plants to paint in my works. However, my one issue was the layout on my eReading app. Overall, it was well done. However, there was occasionally a page that had a landscape orientation instead of a portrait orientation. Rotating my screen without just looking it made the image rotate, of course. It was sporadic, so I would sometimes forget as I was skimming the pages. It’s fairly minor and soesnlt take away from the overall book very much, but the changes in formatting was a little off putting for me. Still, great reference book. The paintings are beautiful, rich, and detailed. The book is simple and straightforward.

Was this review helpful?

The Book of Wild Flowers is a reformat and re-release by the National Geographic Society of botanical illustration plates from Nat'l Geographic between 1915 and 1924 (much of it by Mary E. Eaton). Released 15th July 2020 by Dover, it's 128 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a lovely book of color plates which are detailed, botanically correct, recognizable representations of 250 different grasses, wild flowers, and shrubs. Each of the illustrations contains the botanical name, common name, and plant family. The pictures are clearly rendered and contain multiple items for each of the entries including the flowers, foliage, fruit/capsels, growth (including roots and/or rhizomes), etc.

This would make a lovely reference for the home or school library, as well as for artists. It would also be a good selection for pleasant browsing just for the lovely illustrations themselves.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Was this review helpful?

These exquisite plates of 250 wild flowers and grasses are delightful. Each plate is beautifully painted and is accompanied by its common name, Latin name and family group name. This is a fantastic reference book and also a stunning book for your coffee table. Thank you to Mary Eaton and E. J. Geske, Net Galley and Dover Publications for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I really like Dover books - they're simple, easy to learn, and have really great illustrations. These flower plates are incredibly beautiful and I'd love to have a hardcopy to frame and hang. I will never remember the latin names of most flowers, but this book is like my flashcard learning skills from eons ago in grade school. I'm happy with that! It'll also make a great present to my botanical-loving friends. #TheBookofWildFlowers #NetGalley

Was this review helpful?