Mr. Slakethirst introduced me to enlightenment era Xylotheks, today. Xylotheks combine botany and book arts as well as book arts and container making. See below:
A xylothek is generally speaking a collection of simple pieces of wood specimens placed together in some kind of cupboard. In a refined form it is in the shape of “books” where you can find details from the tree inside, everything arranged as a “library”. This latter form flourished in Germany around 1790-1810. Four different manufacturers existed and three of them offered their products for sale…Each “book” describes a certain tree species and is made out of the actual wood (the “covers”). The spine is covered by the bark, where mosses and lichens from the same tree are arranged. “Books” of shrubs are covered with mosses with split branches on both covers and spines. —The Wooden Library in Alnarp
Large photos of the Alnarp collection of Xylotheks can be seen at The Wooden Library in Alnarp website. Wonderful stuff!
