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Today, if you want to know about any of the flo\u00adra or fau\u00adna that sur\u00adround us, you have only to look it up online. After you get your fill of knowl\u00adedge, you can decide whether or not you want to ven\u00adture out into the world and see your object of inter\u00adest in its nat\u00adur\u00adal envi\u00adron\u00adment (or a con\u00adtrolled sim\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion there\u00adof). In the Vic\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan era, things worked a bit dif\u00adfer\u00adent\u00adly. Ide\u00adal\u00adly, you\u2019d have grown up in a house\u00adhold, or at least had access to an insti\u00adtu\u00adtion, with the com\u00adplete set of The Nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adist\u2019s Library, a series of more than 40 vol\u00adumes on every\u00adthing from the birds and the bees to the quadrupeds and the mar\u00adsu\u00adpi\u00adalia. Print\u00aded in a rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly small for\u00admat and priced at six shillings each, they brought the intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal fruits of the nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adist\u2019s enter\u00adprise clos\u00ader to the reach of the every\u00adman than ever before.<\/p>\n
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While these books offered a good deal of infor\u00adma\u00adtive text, includ\u00ading mem\u00adoirs from var\u00adi\u00adous famous nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adists of the time, their imme\u00addi\u00adate attrac\u00adtion had more to do with their glo\u00adri\u00adous illus\u00adtra\u00adtions, in which col\u00adored exam\u00adples of each species popped right out of its black-and-white habi\u00adtat. These more than 1,300 col\u00ador plates, some of the finest that could be seen in any pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion of sim\u00adi\u00adlar scale in the mid-nine\u00adteenth cen\u00adtu\u00adry, pre\u00adsent\u00aded an attrac\u00adtive project to the design\u00ader Nicholas Rougeux<\/a>, whose work we\u2019ve pre\u00advi\u00adous\u00adly fea\u00adtured here on Open Cul\u00adture.<\/p>\n Hav\u00ading already restored and cre\u00adat\u00aded dig\u00adi\u00adtal ver\u00adsions of Euclid\u00ad\u2019s\u00a0Ele\u00adments<\/a>, Pierre-Joseph Red\u00adout\u00e9\u2019s Les Ros\u00ades and Les Lil\u00adi\u00adac\u00e9es<\/a>, Eliz\u00ada\u00adbeth Twin\u00ading\u2019s Illus\u00adtra\u00adtions of the Nat\u00adur\u00adal Orders of Plants<\/a>, and\u00a0Daniel Berke\u00adley Updike\u2019s\u00a0Print\u00ading Types<\/a>, among oth\u00ader books, he\u2019s now put online a\u00a0com\u00adplete repro\u00adduc\u00adtion of the Nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adist\u2019s Library<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 with, as usu\u00adal, a blog post about the painstak\u00ading restora\u00adtion and dig\u00adi\u00adtal re-cre\u00adation process<\/a>.<\/p>\n This time, Rougeux has includ\u00aded a sec\u00adtion about his use of arti\u00adfi\u00adcial intel\u00adli\u00adgence, which actu\u00adal\u00adly did its part to bring The Nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adist\u2019s Library to his atten\u00adtion in the first place. Not only did AI tools then help him unearth need\u00aded sources and fill in visu\u00adal gaps, they also came in handy when he was brain\u00adstorm\u00ading cov\u00ader con\u00adcepts for a print\u00aded ver\u00adsion. Though Rougeux\u2019s restora\u00adtion is pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly a web site, free to all to explore<\/a>, you can also buy your own hand\u00adsome, large-for\u00admat phys\u00adi\u00adcal copy of Plates of the Nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adist\u2019s Library<\/a> for $295.11 USD.<\/p>\n Eas\u00adi\u00ader on the wal\u00adlet is the series of posters<\/a> he\u2019s made with the same illus\u00adtra\u00adtions, each of which presents one of these cat\u00ade\u00adgories of crea\u00adtures great or small at a glance. The orig\u00adi\u00adnal Nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adist\u2019s Library inspired gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions to ded\u00adi\u00adcate them\u00adselves to under\u00adstand\u00ading the nat\u00adur\u00adal world; these new ver\u00adsions, whether in print, online<\/a>, or on the wall, will no doubt encour\u00adage the enthu\u00adsi\u00adasm of more than a few bud\u00adding nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adists in the gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions to come. Vis\u00adit the\u00a0repro\u00adduc\u00adtion of the Nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adist\u2019s Library<\/a> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Relat\u00aded Con\u00adtent:<\/p>\n A Lav\u00adish\u00adly Illus\u00adtrat\u00aded Cat\u00ada\u00adlog of All Hum\u00adming\u00adbird Species Known in the 19th Cen\u00adtu\u00adry Gets Restored & Put Online<\/a><\/p>\n Behold an Inter\u00adac\u00adtive Online Edi\u00adtion of Eliz\u00ada\u00adbeth Twining\u2019s Illus\u00adtra\u00adtions of the Nat\u00adur\u00adal Orders of Plants (1868)<\/a><\/p>\n Ernst Haeckel\u2019s Sub\u00adlime Draw\u00adings of Flo\u00adra & Fau\u00adna: The Beau\u00adti\u00adful Sci\u00aden\u00adtif\u00adic Draw\u00adings That Influ\u00adenced Europe\u2019s Art Nou\u00adveau Move\u00adment (1889)<\/a><\/p>\n 300,000 Won\u00addrous Nature Illus\u00adtra\u00adtions Put Online by The Bio\u00addi\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty Her\u00aditage Library<\/a><\/p>\n Explore a New Archive of 2,200 His\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal Wildlife Illus\u00adtra\u00adtions (1916\u20131965): Cour\u00adtesy of The Wildlife Con\u00adser\u00adva\u00adtion Soci\u00adety<\/a><\/p>\n Explore an Inter\u00adac\u00adtive, Online Ver\u00adsion of the Beau\u00adti\u00adful\u00adly Illus\u00adtrat\u00aded, 200-Year-Old British & Exot\u00adic Min\u00ader\u00adal\u00ado\u00adgy<\/a><\/p>\n Based in Seoul,\u00a0Col\u00adin<\/a>\u00a0M<\/a>a<\/a>rshall<\/a>\u00a0writes and broad\u00adcasts on cities, lan\u00adguage, and cul\u00adture. He\u2019s the author of the newslet\u00adter\u00a0Books on Cities<\/a>\u00a0as well as the books\u00a0\ud55c\uad6d \uc694\uc57d \uae08\uc9c0<\/a>\u00a0(No Sum\u00adma\u00adriz\u00ading Korea) and\u00a0Kore\u00adan Newtro<\/a>.\u00a0Fol\u00adlow him on the social net\u00adwork for\u00admer\u00adly known as Twit\u00adter at\u00a0@colinm<\/a>a<\/a>rshall<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/vignette-1.jpg\")
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