i can see clearly now....

i was having a discussion the other day with someone about the astonishing amount of material online nowadays (just think of all that sheet music!). he said that pretty soon books will be out-of-date.

well, i have a lot of books on this subject.... i started to say... and he inter- rupted: and you never use them anymore, right?

not right! it drives me crazy how much stuff is in these books that is simply not online yet--i sometimes search for hours. sometimes i get lucky, sometimes not so much.

the thing i was hunting for today: in my bible, 'japon- isme,' by sigfried wichmann, referenced is a book, or collection of books, from the early 1800s. they are quite literally handbooks of japanese horticulture.

when all the other japanese influences were arriving on western shores, botany was as well (see the posters above for advertisements for horticultural expositions at the world's fairs),












and when you see these simple drawings alongside the glass creations from nancy, the galle and the daums.... and the baccarat, and the others you see here, the designs of the plants and flowers are as much copies as were the van gogh geisha. i have tried my best to give you an idea from what i could find, but that sound you hear is me grinding my teeth.