Wednesday, March 16, 2022

The Complete Language of Flowers: A Definitive and Illustrated History - Pocket Edition

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The Complete Language of Flowers-Pocket Edition is an encyclopedic manual of the traditional meaning for flowers and bouquet building in the traditional manner of the Victorians. Originally published in 2020, this smaller format reprint is due out 12th April 2022 from Quarto on their Wellfleet imprint. It's 256 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

The book has a retro botanical print vibe and the introduction leads directly into a very short 'how to use this book'. The bulk of the book contains an alphabetical listing of the flowers and plants. Each listing contains a color illustration followed by some of the common names for each plant listed, symbolic meaning(s), possible powers, and folklore and facts. The listings are compact, there are 4-6 listings per page. The book includes a nice bibliography and two indices. One index includes the flowers listed with common names alphabetically, the other includes meanings, so if the reader wants to let the recipient down gently by declaring their platonic affection, it's easily looked up in the second index (Acacia, robinia, Austrian roses).

This is an appealing and very pretty book for a somewhat niche audience.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
 

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