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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession by Andrea Wulf

How do a modest Quaker farmer outside Philadelphia in pre-revolutionary America, a well-to-do cloth merchant in London, the inventor of the scientific binomial nomenclature that made possible universal identification of plants, and an enormously wealthy British nobleman with a passionate dream of exploration and discovery come together to affect the course of Western civilization? Quite simply, a passion for plants.

My interest in this book was sparked by the role of John Bartram, an intelligent and inquisitive farmer outside Philadelphia, and a friend of Benjamin Franklin, who happened to have an unusual affinity for plants and horticulture. Rising from his rather lowly beginnings, Bartram became a key figure in the importation of North American flora into Great Britain, traveling throughout the East to find new plants, eventually helping make possible the birth of the centuries-long passion for gardening among the British. His 18th century house and nursery are near here, on the outskirts of Philadelphia.

The Brother Gardeners is about a time when botany was the cutting edge of science. Advances in horticultural knowledge, invention of a universal system for classifying and naming plants, and the discovery and cultivation of new plants from the far corners of the world were among the highest scientific pursuits. Andrea Wulf weaves together these and other stories in a fascinating account that takes us from John Bartram's farm on the Schuylkyll River in Pennsylvania, to Peter Collinson collecting boxes of plants and seed from America on the London docks, to that most arrogant of scientists, Linnaeus, ruthlessly pursuing his new system for classifying and naming all plants, to Joseph Banks in England, a man with enormous wealth and courage enough to finance and risk his life on one of the first voyages of exploration to the South Pacific, guided by Captain Cook aboard the Endeavor, in pursuit of new plant discoveries, and in that pursuit discovering, by accident, the east coast of Australia.

Fascinating reading for gardeners with a historical inclination, this book brings to life one of those times in which apparently unrelated interests merge to move a culture into new directions. In the eighteenth century, when Britain was building an empire that would dominate the world, large numbers of the well-to-do were becoming entranced by new horticultural discoveries. They became a new moneyed market for the new plants, vying for access to the plants for their gardens, driving development of new technologies such as heated greenhouses for growing tropical species, and collecting vast herbaria. As plants became more important to the economy of Britain, interest in them spread and access became easier and cheaper, igniting a passion for gardening among the broader population.

Ms. Wulf's is a gossipy book - if a book on 18th century botanical goings on can be so characterized - and a well researched book full of treasures of information, quotes from letters we might otherwise never have opportunity to read, a book full of stories of the follies and amazing achievements of a group of intelligent, at times prideful and silly, and accomplished gentlemen and farmers to whom all gardeners today owe a debt.

16 comments:

  1. This sounds fantastic, James, thanks for letting us know about it!
    Frances

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  2. Sounds like I just added another item to my Christmas wish list.

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  3. Frances,
    It's really an enjoyable book. And, by the way, congratulations on your Blotanical awards!

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  4. Les,
    I left out a lot. Banks also sponsored the voyage of the Bounty under the command of Captain Bligh, for example. Then there's the part about free love, and a lot of venereal disease, in Tahiti.

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  5. Thanks for the review--my local library is just entering this book into their system, and I've requested a copy. (I'm excited about botany being gossipy, LOL!)

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  6. Ever since I got a spanking for (accidentally, I swore) chopping down hills of okra in our family garden as a child growing up on a high school campus in the Mississippi Delta, I've tried to stay away from gardening. Now you come along with this wonderful review and I may yet turn into a hoer in my dotage.

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  7. The book sounds so interesting. That was such an incredible time in history. I've just finished a biography of Jefferson and his passion for his gardens. Bet he knew Bartram.

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  8. Just in time for the dreaded withdrawl that sweeps over me when the snow falls, I have a wonderful book to sink my teeth into! It sounds absolutely fascinating, and the history of horticulture has been a topic that I have wanted to expand upon. Thanks for sharing!

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  9. Monica, wait until you read about Linnaeus' descriptions of flowers' sexual parts. The British were scandalized!

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  10. Allan, my old college friend, I've read about your struggles with your lawn. You're selling your house? Where are you moving?

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  11. Mary Delle, not only Thomas Jefferson. George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were also visitors to John Bartram's house and garden.

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  12. Teza, it's a really enjoyable book, and provides a view into a past world of gardeners I found fascinating. This was a time when gardens were considered to be very important, not just a diversion or harmless hobby.

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  13. James,
    We hope to be in Seattle by spring if not before. Our son and daughter-in-law and, much more importantly, our granddaughter live there. She's 19 months old and needs some grandparents nearby. We fill the bill admirably.

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  14. well, a new book to read...sounds fantastic! thanks for the great post, James

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  15. I enjoyed this book so much when the agent asked me if she could send me an advance copy. I was even more overjoyed to meet Andrea Wulf when she came to Nashville. The book is so easy to read and gives such good information. Glad to see you liked it too. I actually posted on it-twice. I liked the naming of plants by Linnaeus and how the big wigs of the time tried to thwart him. It was really most interesting. Good review of it. Much better than mine I think.

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  16. I followed the link from Thinking Gardens and am very glad to have found your blog! Thank you I will be coming back to read more!

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