PICTURE books make fabulous gifts – especially when they are both informative and fun to look at. Our choices combine aesthetic appeal with quality content.
The Art of Nature by Judith Magee, Natural History Museum, £25) is a visual celebration of European natural history illustrations. Continent by continent, the stories of the collectors and artists are told, accompanied by sumptuous watercolours, detailed maps, beguiling animal sketches and botanical drawings. As the introduction notes, the drawings and observations were heavily influenced by the mores of the time so this book is an insight into how Europeans perceived the natural world.
A coffee…
