Mushroom Botanical Art

In this beautiful collection, Toshimitsu Fukiharu gathers some of the best biological illustrations of fungi from around the world into one book, not primarily for the purpose of creating a guide or doing scientific analysis, but simply because of the beauty of these drawings. With images from the 18th and 19th centuries, this book reads almost like an art history of fungi. Observe how the styles shift with the year, with the location of the artist, and with the medium of illustration, whether drawing, painting, or watercolor. And of course, consider the sheer effort it took to so faithfully recreate the mushrooms included here as part of a scientific process. A charming book.