Quinologie
July 18, 2013 12:19 PM Subscribe
Quinologie: the cinchona and issues in the present state of science and commerce (1865). The book has 23 hand-colored and extremely detailed plates of the many different barks of the cinchona tree, the world's original source of quinine. Don't get too excited - it's literally just some pictures of bark. Pictures begin on page 51.
You can pick up a copy of this on ABEbooks for just $1,250! No, wait, shipping is $6.50. Screw that.
Actually, those color plates are pretty gorgeous. I'll bet a lot of copies of the book have been cut up over the years.
posted by yoink at 12:45 PM on July 18, 2013
Actually, those color plates are pretty gorgeous. I'll bet a lot of copies of the book have been cut up over the years.
posted by yoink at 12:45 PM on July 18, 2013
Then again, the next cheapest copy is $4,728 (and postage is $19!). You might want to ACT NOW on that first copy (which is inscribed by the author).
posted by yoink at 12:53 PM on July 18, 2013
posted by yoink at 12:53 PM on July 18, 2013
The 10th Regiment of Foot: "Needs more gin."
And of what book, pray tell, is this not true?
posted by chavenet at 1:03 PM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
And of what book, pray tell, is this not true?
posted by chavenet at 1:03 PM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
"Needs more gin."
And of what book, pray tell, is this not true?
The ones that need more bourbon, obviously.
posted by Rangeboy at 1:06 PM on July 18, 2013
And of what book, pray tell, is this not true?
The ones that need more bourbon, obviously.
posted by Rangeboy at 1:06 PM on July 18, 2013
And of what book, pray tell, is this not true?
The Big Book of Gin, Gin, Gin and more Gin. By Ginny McGingerson. Published by Gin, Gin, Gin and Tonic. With free bottle of gin on every page. Plus mystery gift (hint: it's GIN!).
posted by yoink at 1:07 PM on July 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
The Big Book of Gin, Gin, Gin and more Gin. By Ginny McGingerson. Published by Gin, Gin, Gin and Tonic. With free bottle of gin on every page. Plus mystery gift (hint: it's GIN!).
posted by yoink at 1:07 PM on July 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
Oh, those are lovely! I wonder what the technical process was like. I wish these were turned into a wallpaper and then I could wallpaper the shit out of something. Anything.
posted by Kattullus at 1:58 PM on July 18, 2013
posted by Kattullus at 1:58 PM on July 18, 2013
I wonder what the technical process was like.
They'd have to be hand-colored, wouldn't they? Anyone know?
posted by yoink at 2:01 PM on July 18, 2013
They'd have to be hand-colored, wouldn't they? Anyone know?
posted by yoink at 2:01 PM on July 18, 2013
I wish these were turned into a wallpaper and then I could wallpaper the shit out of something. Anything.
I thought the same thing. I looked it up after a reference to it in Amy Stewart's The Drunken Botanist.
I knew a little bit about the history of quinine and its value for Malaria treatments, but in case anyone wasn't, I'll quote a bit of history from the book:
Everything changed in World War II, when Japanese troops took control of Java and Germans seized a quinine warehouse in Amsterdam. The last American plane to fly out of the Philippines before Japanese control carried four million quinine seeds but the trees could not be grown fast enough to provide malaria remedies to Allied troops.
A desperate search for a synthetic alternative was under way, but meanwhile, American botanist Raymond Fosberg was sent by the USDA to South America to find more quinine. He traced the routes of the old explorers and managed to acquire 12.5 million pounds of bark to ship home - but it wasn't enough. One night in Columbia, Fosberg heard a knock at the door and discovered Nazi agents ready to make a deal. They'd followed him through South America and wanted to offer for sale a supply of pure quinine they'd smuggled from Germany. He didn't have to debate long before accepting their offer. American troops needed the drug if they were to keep fighting - eve if it came from corrupt Nazis.
Nazis, South American jungles, angry natives, drugs - it's like a botanical Indiana Jones story!
posted by Think_Long at 2:12 PM on July 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
I thought the same thing. I looked it up after a reference to it in Amy Stewart's The Drunken Botanist.
I knew a little bit about the history of quinine and its value for Malaria treatments, but in case anyone wasn't, I'll quote a bit of history from the book:
Everything changed in World War II, when Japanese troops took control of Java and Germans seized a quinine warehouse in Amsterdam. The last American plane to fly out of the Philippines before Japanese control carried four million quinine seeds but the trees could not be grown fast enough to provide malaria remedies to Allied troops.
A desperate search for a synthetic alternative was under way, but meanwhile, American botanist Raymond Fosberg was sent by the USDA to South America to find more quinine. He traced the routes of the old explorers and managed to acquire 12.5 million pounds of bark to ship home - but it wasn't enough. One night in Columbia, Fosberg heard a knock at the door and discovered Nazi agents ready to make a deal. They'd followed him through South America and wanted to offer for sale a supply of pure quinine they'd smuggled from Germany. He didn't have to debate long before accepting their offer. American troops needed the drug if they were to keep fighting - eve if it came from corrupt Nazis.
Nazis, South American jungles, angry natives, drugs - it's like a botanical Indiana Jones story!
posted by Think_Long at 2:12 PM on July 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
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