Herbarium
Cambridge University Press, Australia, US & UK, 2004
This stunning book of photographs by Robyn Stacey, one of this country's finest photographers, is the first of its kind. Stacey, along with essayist, Ashley Hay, throws open the closed doors of the National Herbarium of New South Wales at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, to reveal the secret history of Australia's flora.
Herbarium tells fascinating stories about the nature of collecting, those who collected, what they collected and when, and also provides the scientific background to each of the specimens. A list of botanical notes provides a unique link between the specimens and their collectors. The exquisite photographs of the botanical specimens – some extremely rare – comprise a collection of extraordinary beauty.
Robyn Stacey’s work is represented by Stills Gallery.
‘Stacey's luminous photographs of plants collected over a period of 230 years are complemented by Hay's lively text about those who lived, and in some cases died, in pursuit of them.’ – The Telegraph (London)
'Based around the National Herbarium of New South Wales, this is a fascinating and pictorially stunning history of its creation and present day status. … With an informative, easy-to-read and endlessly fascinating essay on the subject by Ashley Hay, as well as the stunning photographic portraits, this is a book for all spectrums of reader - gardener, historian, adventure-lovers, botanist and museum-lovers.' – The Book Place