Amazing rare things: the art of natural history in the age of discovery.

[Carlsbad]: Kales Press, 2009.
Octavo, paperback, 224 pp. colour illustrations.

The Royal Collection, held at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and Holyroodhouse, has been shaped by royal taste over five hundred years. In this book, the collection's natural history artworks are supplemented by an introduction and commentary by David Attenborough. This exploration of the natural world from the late fifteenth century to the early eighteenth century represents a period when European knowledge of the world was transformed by voyages of discovery to the farthest reaches of Africa, Asia, America and beyond. Included are works by Leonardo da Vinci and other artists and collectors of their time who embraced the natural riches of their ever-expanding world and whose legacies help us to understand our continuing relationship with the natural world. Also available in hardcover [stock id 26328].