Natural History

In this category Gennadius had classified all historical publications dealing with science, industry, commerce, medicine in Greece and the Near East. Two items of extreme interest and value should be noted here: John Sibthorp’s Flora Graeca, London, 1806-1840, 10 volumes, with 966 color plates, and a small volume with drawings of the wild flowers of Corfu. The first edition of the Sibthorp ran to only thirty copies. After the series was complete, H.G. Bohn, who published a re-issue of about forty copies, of which the Gennadeion copy is one, acquired the plates. The Corfu flowers were painted for Frederic North, Earl of Guilford, and the founder of the Ionian Academy. The artist, G. Scola (or Scala), though otherwise unknown, was a superb botanical illustrator.