March 3, 2013 -- Neltje Blanchan page

This page, in a 1917 book by Neltje Blanchan, was by far the most beautiful thing I encountered today. Having gotten rid of an entire suite of bookshelves, I am ruthlessly discarding garden books. But this one, oh, this one, which I'd forgotten I owned, will stay in my possession: The Nature Library, Wildflowers, by Neltje Blanchan. I have no idea how it came into my possession, but what a treasure it is. Its illustrations (and text) are all wonderful, but this Solomon's Seal illustration is exquisite. I may be risking some damage to the book, but I've put it on the windowsill so I can enjoy the illustration. This seems sort of disrespectful, but it's certainly better than letting the book languish on a bookshelf unopened. I just propped it up next to yesterday's plant material.

Here's the page close up.