Cambridge Library Collection – Botany and Horticulture: Selected Papers, 1821-38

Professor of botany from 1825 until his death, John Stevens Henslow (1796-1861) revived and greatly advanced the study of plants at Cambridge. His influence helped to make the University Botanic Garden an important centre for teaching and research. Originally published over a period of seventeen years, and now reissued here together, these thirteen papers reveal the impressive breadth of Henslow’s scientific knowledge. The first two items, from 1821, address the geology of the Isle of Man and Anglesey respectively, preceding his five-year tenure as chair of mineralogy at Cambridge from 1822. The rest of the papers, dating from 1829 to 1838, address botanical topics. Professor John Parker, Director of Cambridge University Botanic Garden, has provided a new introduction that traces Henslow’s developing interests and contextualises the items in this collection. Several of Henslow’s other publications, including his Catalogue of British Plants (1829), are reissued separately in this series.