DIY "Cook's Illustrated" covers

June 1, 2020 1:04 PM

Over the past 20 years, renowned illustrator John Burgoyne has produced more than 150 intricate, hand-drawn illustrations for Cook’s Illustrated magazine. In 1886, the US Government Commissioned 7,500 watercolor paintings of every known fruit in the world. Now, using materials from the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection, you can make your own Cook's Illustrated poster! (Some assembly required.) 2019 OpenCulture article on the collection is here, with great examples and interesting context. My own fave, the pawpaw.

Pomological Collection previously.

Direct link to the images: https://usdawatercolors.nal.usda.gov/pom/home.xhtml

And if you just want prints of the original magazine art, you can buy those here: https://shop.americastestkitchen.com/framed-prints/berries-print.html

posted by wenestvedt (9 comments total)

This is also a great example of open data! This collection used to be behind a paywall, but now it’s not!
posted by rockindata at 1:14 PM on June 1, 2020 [4 favorites]

I can’t wait to explore this! I used to remove the back covers of Cook’s Illustrated, frame them, and hang them in my kitchen. And I buy the calendar every year. This sounds like excellent! Thanks for posting.
posted by bookmammal at 1:34 PM on June 1, 2020 [2 favorites]

This is great. I am sending the link to Botanizer, Jr. who has a professional interest and, I believe, a better printer.
posted by Botanizer at 2:05 PM on June 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

the pawpaw

Specifically Asimina triloba, the largest edible fruit indigenous to the United States, not Carica papaya. (We just planted some of the former.)
posted by zamboni at 2:20 PM on June 1, 2020 [2 favorites]

In 1886, the US Government Commissioned 7,500 watercolor paintings of every known fruit in the world

I am sorely disappointed the durian is not included in that list.
posted by destrius at 7:09 PM on June 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

I grew up in Michigan but live many thousands of miles away and in a fit of homesickness I searched the Pomological Database for the most beautiful fruits that grow in Michigan and wrote up a museum-style label for each one (using a museum-standard font called Bitter) and then made up two dozen glorious large format prints to hang on the walls of my home and tried my hand at amateur woodworking to create simple photo frames of unadorned pine for each one.

I was also able to use my Michigander knowledge to solve a microscopic mystery. Amanda Almira Newton's "Northern Spy Apple" is from the town of Ionia, Michigan, not "Tonia" as the database surmises. I've been to Ionia. There's a maximum-security state prison there, and road signs advise drivers not to pick up hitchhikers - a vaguely disturbing memory that manages to make me homesick again anyways.

That exact pawpaw image from the OP is in the stairwell between the first and second floor of my home, between some cherries and a bruised plum.
posted by Enkidude at 1:08 AM on June 2, 2020 [3 favorites]

It was linked in the last thread but if you want occasional fruit pictures in your timeline you can follow @pomological on Twitter.
posted by quaking fajita at 9:27 AM on June 2, 2020 [2 favorites]

Malus domestica: Skank
posted by slogger at 8:37 AM on June 3, 2020

I just followed @pomological. Such a nice bit of fruit popping up among the terrible things.
posted by rockindata at 5:53 PM on June 5, 2020