Books have been essential to the conception and pursuit of collecting at a global scale since the early modern period. This is evident in the rich and growing body of scholarship exploring the versatility of paper technologies, chains of reference, (im)mutable mobiles and, not least, correspondence networks. Although this is relevant for the collection of any organism or object, the role of books as collecting tools is uniquely relevant to the collection of plants. Instructions to travellers, in print and manuscript, to collect plants in books, match both archival references to the practice and the widespread occurrence of pressed plants in early modern books. These instructions also echo early instructions of how to make a herbarium. This talk teases out the different meanings and uses of ’book’ in relation to interconnected historical collecting practices and formats (the herbarium/hortus siccus, inter-referencing, interfoliation, etc.), seeking to bring some clarity to their place in current historiographical discussions.

Anna Svensson is an affiliated researcher at the Department of History of Science and Ideas at Uppsala University. With a focus on materiality and practice, her research explores different perspectives on the history and present of botanical collections, most recently how pressed plants in early printed books relate to the hortus siccus. She is currently employed at the Botanical Department of the Natural History Museum, Stockholm, to work with the historical and miscellaneous collections.

For the Zoom link, please email instructingnaturalhistory@uu.se

Image: author’s own