Botanical Shakespeare

In this stunning compilation, Shakespeare expert Gerit Quealy has teamed up with notable Japanese artist Sumié Hasegawa-Collins to create the most comprehensive collection of all the flowers, fruits, herbs, trees, seeds, and grasses mentioned in Shakespeare’s works, each paired with an exquisite illustration and corresponding quote.

Quealy supplements the dazzling main text with rich background information, explaining Shakespeare’s relationship to plants, describing his deep knowledge of botany—as well as colloquialisms—and his unmatched skill for creating metaphorical connections. An accompanying dictionary elaborates on each plant, providing facts, historical context, and anecdotes—such as the differences between an apple and an apple-john, how clinging burrs from the burdock plant that stick to anything brushing by became associated with obsessive crushes, and that the turnip is mentioned only once in all of Shakespeare, in the Merry Wives of Windsor, when Anne Page says she prefers Death by Vegetable to marrying a foolish suitor.

Twenty years in the making, Botanical Shakespeare is a labor of love from illustrator Hasegawa-Collins and Quealy, whose combined passion for both Shakespeare and plants has resulted in this beautiful and meticulous compendium that leaves no petal unturned.