Mini Book: Heritage Fruits – Wendel 1879 Botanical Collection

In 1879, Abraham Jacobus Wendel published Nederlandsche flora en pomona — a meticulous catalog of Dutch fruits rendered with the precision of science and the sensibility of a painter. Wendel (1826–1915) worked at the precise moment when botanical illustration had reached its technical peak: chromolithography allowed for faithful colour reproduction, horticultural science demanded accuracy, and the tradition of Dutch still life painting lent the genre an aesthetic ambition that pure taxonomy never could. The result was a body of work that documents not just fruit varieties, but a way of seeing the natural world that photography would soon make obsolete.

The front cover features Wendel’s characteristic pomological style — fruit specimens rendered with attention to surface texture, weight, and the particular quality of light on skin and flesh, drawn from the Nederlandsche flora en pomona (1879), a landmark of 19th-century Dutch botanical illustration. The twenty interior pages present a curated selection of heritage fruit engravings from the same volume, each one a portrait of a variety that may no longer exist in commercial cultivation — preserved here in the compact, tactile format of a collectible board book.

Product Details

• Format: 6 × 6 in (15.2 × 15.2 cm)
• Pages: 20 chipboard pages, 1/16” thick
• Surface: Matte laminate finish — reduces glare, resists fingerprints
• Corners: Rounded for safe everyday handling
• Construction: Ultra-durable board book format

Perfect For

• Botanical art enthusiasts and collectors of heritage illustration
• Lovers of Dutch masters and 19th-century pomological art
• Anyone building a curated home library or gallery wall
• Coffee table book collectors seeking unique, compact pieces
• Hosts who appreciate conversation-worthy décor
• Thoughtful gifts for anyone who values art, history, and craftsmanship

Read more: The Last Fruits: Abraham Jacobus Wendel and the Art of Pomological Illustration