edited by Michel Conan and W. John Kress
contributions by Georges Metailie, Therese O'Malley, Saul Alcantara Onofre, Maria Subtelny, Alain Touwaide, Daniel Martin Varisco, Elliot R. Wolfson, Mauro Ambrosoli, Nurhan Atasoy, Peter del Tredici, Mohammed El Faiz, Susan Toby Evans, Yizhar Hirschfeld and Wybe Kuitert
Harvard University Press, 2007
Paper: 978-0-88402-327-2
Library of Congress Classification GN476.73.D86 2004
Dewey Decimal Classification 581.63

ABOUT THIS BOOK | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK

From Roman times to the present, knowledge of plants and their cultivation have exerted a deep impact on cultural changes. This book highlights the religious, artistic, political, and economic consequences of horticultural pursuits.

Far from a mere trade, horticulture profoundly affected Jewish and Persian mystical poetry and caused deep changes in Ottoman arts. It contributed to economic and political changes in Judea, Al Andalus, Japan, Yuan China, early modern Mexico, Europe, and the United States. This book explores the roles of peasants, botanists, horticulturists, nurserymen and gentlemen collectors in these developments, and concludes with a reflection on the future of horticulture in the present context of widespread environmental devastation and ecological uncertainty.