Herbarium Amoris – Floral Romance – Book Review
Edvard Koinberg Photographs Plants Featured in Calendarium Florae
May 14, 2009
Herbarium Amoris (Floral Romance, Taschen, 2009) is based on Carl Linnaeus's floral calendar – Calendarium Florae, published in 1756.
Carl Linnaeus – The Father of Taxonomy
Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), also known as Carl von Linné or Carolus Linnaeus, was a renowned Swedish physician, often dubbed The Father of Taxonomy. He was a keen collector of botanical specimens and amassed more than 20,000 samples from around the world.
Linnaeus's work laid the foundation for a systematic knowledge of nature. The publication of his Calendarium Florae caused quite a stir. His belief that a plant's sexual parts mirrored human genitalia led to major changes in the way plants were classified.
Herbarium Amoris – About the Publication
The Herbarium has no narrative. A reproduction of the Calendarium Florae is followed by the Preface, two essays, approximately 200 spectacular close-up photographs and a scientific description of all the plants featured.
In the Preface, the photographer, Edvard Koinberg, describes his work collecting and photographing some of the plants that Linnaeus named (see his website). Koinberg's workshop was the summerhouse at the bottom of his garden in the Swedish province of Uppland, the same region that Linnaeus worked in.
The Man Who Loved Flowers by Henning Mankell
Carl Linnaeus loved plants and this passion is explored in the opening essay by Henning Mankell. Linnaeus, a professor at Uppsala University, sent an army of representatives, some were priests, some were doctors or teachers, across the world to examine and collect samples of plants. They sent the results of their research back to Linnaeus who named and organised the plants. Mankell describes him as: "a spider in the center of its web, gobbling up everything sent to him by his students."
Mankell reflects on the pictures in the book and poses the question: "What would Linnaeus have thought?" According to Mankell, Linnaeus would have taken the camera apart in much the same way that he would have deconstructed a plant!
Linnaeus, the Systematist by Tore Frängsmyr
Frängsmyr simplifies Linnaeus's view of science – one collected knowledge, sorted and arranged it, and then classified it. For Linnaeus this was the very essence of scientific activity.
Linnaeus's main interest was botany, a discipline incorporated in medicine. Early books on plants were confusing because some researchers grouped them according to corolla or fruit, some according to size or colour. As Linnaeus gathered new knowledge it became harder to incorporate it into the old classification systems so he simply devised a new one. The innovative system was an instant success and botany became an individual science with its own language.
Herbarium Amoris Develops Calendarium Florae
Herbarium Amoris reflects Linnaeus's Calendarium which grouped plants in monthly sections, according to their flowering time. Koinberg has expanded these monthly sections to include additional plants named and classified by Linnaeus.
Herbarium Amoris – About the Photographer
The photographer, Edvard Koinberg, was born in Stockholm, Sweden in1964. His work echoes the Dutch painters of the 17th and 18th Centuries and has been shown around the world.
Herbarium Amoris – About the Essayists
Tore Frängsmyr (b.1938) was Professor of Scientific History at Uppsala University and Director of the Center for History of Science at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. His publications include Linnaeus: The Man and His Work. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities.
As a crime writer, children's author and dramatist, Henning Mankell (b.1948) may seem like an unlikely candidate for this publication but his lively essay is fascinating and informative. His books include Djup (2004) and Italian Shoes (2006).
Herbarium Amoris is published by Taschen UK Ltd., and will be available in the UK from 26 May 2009. The book is priced at £24.99. (ISBN 978-3-8365-1450-7 Hardback)
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