lovely

natural curiosities

We happened into Barnes and Noble on Sunday for a practical reason, but during my usual scan of the bargain book section, I happened upon a book that I’d always considered the ultimate coffee table accessory.

Cabinet of Natural Curiosities: The Complete Plates in Colour, 1734-1765 (by Albertus Seba) is filled with gorgeous illustrated plates of every imaginable living creature, along with a few mythical ones as well. I can’t imagine anyone being able to draw so many different creatures with such precision, but he was somehow able to capture butterflies and plants with the same light as lizards and squid.

Needless to say, when I saw it in the bargain pile for $25, we quickly picked one up for consumption. Mr. M has been requesting some nature plate artwork for both his home and personal office, so framing a few originals and scanning some of these pages for enlargement will work out perfectly!

a bathroom wallpapered with the pages of the book (from Style Court)

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