HERBARIUM

I was doing a little reorganization of the library at the store and I came across the kind of thing you dream of finding in your grandmother's attic or in some antiquated little library in the middle of Scandinavia. It is an extensive portfolio entitled Herbarium by Margareta Nillson. It contains at least fifty pages of dried plants glued and taped onto sheets of paper complete with their name, class, family and location. Even for some one like me who only has a passing interest in plats, this little volume is deliciously spellbinding. It may be because it is just so incredibly old (it has to be at least 150 yrs old), but it also shows an incredible attention to detail. Each plant is stuck down, flattened out, labeled and then there are also seeds and blooms to accompany the entries. Whether it was for a class or for a hobby, the volume really is a miraculous testament to knowledge and to Sweden's history of classification