This is a great reference book. If you are into learning about plants this is a great addition to your library. The illustrations are very detailed and help somewhat is identification if you are often outdoors.

All the famous herbaria, plants, and scientists are in this book. The illustrations are gorgeous! I ended up purchasing a physical copy of this book. It's a great treasure to have on your bookshelves.

Lovely volume the details the history of herbaria. If you are interested in plants and plant collecting, you will love this book!

It is well designed and interesting read. It is informative as it is written by the director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden. The information and details are perfect for this book. This book might not be for everyone though. Yet, if you are interested in plants and exploring this field then it is an ideal read. You will learn so much and enjoy the scientific journey. If you aren't that interested then it might be a bit overwhelming while it is historical and filled with beautiful photos and illustrations. It is much like a textbook, if you are interested in the study then pick up this book with wonderful detail including the history and collecting of plants. Take your time with this one and soak in the knowledge.

An extensive and well researched look into the history of herbariums. The book provides a lot of wonderful images and examples of many things discussed in the text. As interesting as the text is though, it does feel more like reading a textbook and can feel a tad boring at times. Overall if you are interested at all in herbariums this is a go to book for a one stop shop on all the history behind them.

While the contents of this book wasn't what I expected it to be, it still proved beneficial as it opened a new door that I never knew existed.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Timber Press for this free ARC. This review is made of my own accord, with no monetary compensation whatsoever from the names mentioned above and/or the rightful owners of this ARC.

This beautifully illustrated book is an absolute treasure of a resource! Full of detail and explanation, 'Herbarium' is a resource for those confident in nature and those, like me, who are still getting used to their green fingers. I also really enjoyed getting to find out more about the field (ha!) itself, the traditions within botany and the people that made big changes to the field's practices. Obviously an interest in plants and nature is a bit of a pre-requisite, but even for those with only a cursory interest, this will be stunning!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Really loved reading this book! its got so much interesting stuff to learn! need this in my library for sure!

** Than k you NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book for review**

This is an incredibly comprehensive book on plant biology, and the collection and organization of plants. The pictures are absolutely stunning and the text is incredibly detailed. The history in this book is fascinating if you are a lover of the plant world and especially if you enjoy collecting and pressing plants and flowers. I feel like I need to see a physical copy of this book, as the photographs were just beautiful.

I thought this was a great book on the history of herbaria with color plates mixed in the pages. It was fascinating to read how old explorations for commerce and nature expeditions resulted in so much information for the world about botany today.

The pictures of the explorers, maps, colored photographs of specimens and locations, as well as historical illustrated botanical plates all add to the great reading of this book. The chapter Herbarium Digitization was a fascinating read on how digitizing and modernizing collections help researchers worldwide.

A truly excellent read for anyone into botany. While it is a little on the academic side, the pictures break up the text and people interested in biographies and history would find this a great book to read and to add to their library collection.

This book was reviewed for my garden blog.

a wealth of information to get through. I was unfortunately unable to read all since it was through the app and on my phone. however, would be fantastic as a coffee table book/reference book.

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to finish reading and reviewing this title before it was archived.

What I did get to read was absolutely interesting, hence my rating.

Beautiful book, great pictures. Loved reading in this in depth history of herbaria book. For everybody with an interest in biological science.

This is a very impressive and educational book on plant biology. I have always been interested in plants, but did not know much about the specific field of Herberia. Herbarium is extremely educational and goes into the history of documenting plants and fungi and the importance of maintaining detailed records, as our planet, along with it's plants, are always changing. There are a lot of detailed and beautiful photos as well. Herbarium is the perfect book for all plant lovers and would also make a great gift.

A visually stunning book that would probably make a wonderful gift for anyone interested in the subject. However, I found it very difficult to follow as someone with no real prior knowledge about plants and so forth. I hope to revisit this one day once I'm a little more knowledgeable about the topic and can appreciate it more.

This is an interesting book that fans of nature and gardening will enjoy. Would be a great addition to an environmental themed book club.

So much to love about this book - lots of great illustrations/photographs, historical context, and informed text.

I started a new job in a greenhouse recently and one of the first things my new co-worker and I chatted about were our respective herbariums. She was so proud of her samples (rightfully so!) that she had brought them with her across the province and mounted them on the wall of her new apartment. Mine don’t have the same prominent location in my home, but 10 years after graduating college I do still have my collection scanned for quick digital reference, as well as the originals pressed and mounted in my bookshelf.

Herbarium by Barbara M. Thiers is THE book for horticulturalists and plant enthusiasts as passionate about herbarium collections as my co-worker and I are (I might get it for her birthday, shh!) Packed with high quality full colour replications of a wide variety of plant collections, I expected this to be an image-heavy “coffee table book” so I was surprised to find it dense with well-researched information. Starting from the earliest history of documented plant collections, and ending with modern collections today, Barbara has amassed an exhaustive review of Herbarium across the world. Overseeing the largest Herbarium in the Western Hemisphere and the second largest in the world, Barbara M. Thiers experience at the New York Botanical Garden’s William and Lynda Steere Herbarium is clearly evident in the immaculately researched content of this book. Reading like a textbook but visually more akin to a museum exhibit this collection of research and visuals was an engaging, educating read.

Plant collection has always been tied to colonialism and as such this book does skew Euro-centric, like another goodreads reviewer mentioned, I would like to see more information on the Indigenous names and uses of plants. While I’m sure they might not be “traditional” (aka Western) herbarium collections, I would love to learn more about alternative types of plant collections and documentation methods.

I would absolutely recommend this book for any plant nerd, and although I have only seen the digital copy, I would wager it would make an impressive gift for a horticultural or natural science enthusiast.

*thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC

A fascinating, informative and wonderfully illustrated book about plants and how they are classified.
I loved the mix of facts, history and documents.
It's an excellent book for whoever is interested in botanic.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Naturalists — Let’s Geek Out!

From the moment I saw the cover of this book, I knew it was for me. And if you’re a naturalist, plant conservationist, citizen scientist, or serious gardener, this book may speak to you as well.

For those who may not be familiar with the term ‘herbarium,’ it refers to a collection of dried and mounted plants. Specific accompanying data is often used in determining their taxonomic classification.

Did I just hear you mentally yawn? It’s not like that at all. For the right audience, this book is anything but dry!

When Barbara Thiers, the director of the New York Botanical Garden herbarium, admitted that she and her peers were stumped when asked to name the significant milestones in the history of herbaria, you can sense that the idea for this book was born.

The resulting volume covers some of the highlights of herbaria and spans about 600 years, touching six continents. You will learn a bit about the people who undertook this work and the challenges of both the exotic locations and the collection process. Additionally, you will also discover some interesting historical events that were impacted by or occurred adjacent to the collection efforts.

Also, don’t forget to read the captions associated with the many illustrations. Some are mini-stories on their own.

The book succeeds in explaining why these collections are critical to understanding biodiversity through time to the present and into the future.


Why you should not miss this one:
carefully researched and richly detailed
illustrations include not just plants but historical images
appendix includes list of major herbaria across the globe, many of which have an online presence for you to further explore

Thanks to NetGalley, Timber Press, and the author, Dr. Thiers, for the opportunity to read a digital copy in exchange for this review.

This review is also posted on my blog at www.comfortmewithnature.com and referenced on my social media accounts including Goodreads.

#NetGalley #Herbarium