Flora Brasiliensis 

2021

Artist’s book. Unique copy. Accordion binding of six printed and painted panels with covers of printed, dyed and tooled calfskin that has been pierced, burned, painted and gilded. Green goatskin yapp edged chemise with gold tooled leaf motif. Black dropback box.  

“Flora Brasiliensis”, published 1845-1906, was the monumental complete survey of the Brazilian flora. In 1817, the German botanist, Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, travelled to Brazil as part of the wedding party of the Archduchess Leopoldina of Austria. The Archduchess had married the Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro I, and the naturalists attached to her party were part of her dowry arrangement. They travelled over 10,000 km throughout the Brazilian Amazon cataloguing and gathering over 20,000 plant specimens before returning to publish their finds in 40 volumes.

In 2020, deforestation rates in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil surged to their highest level since 2008. A total of 11,088 sq km (4,281 sq miles) of rainforest were destroyed from August 2019 to July 2020. This is a 9.5% increase from the previous year. Scientists have confirmed for the first time that the Amazon rainforest is now emitting more carbon dioxide than it is able to absorb. The emissions amount to a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. Most of the emissions are caused by fires, many deliberately set to clear land for beef production.