Seaweed Collector's Handbook

Paperback, 192 pages

English language

Published April 9, 2020 by Profile Books Limited.

ISBN:: 978-1-78816-546-4

(2 reviews)

From the publisher's website:

Seaweed is so familiar and yet its names - pepper dulse, sea lettuce, bladderwrack - are largely unknown to us.

In this short, exquisitely illustrated portrait, the Dutch poet and artist Miek Zwamborn shares her discoveries of its history, culture and use, from the Neolithic people of the Orkney Islands to sushi artisans in modern Japan. Seaweed troubled Columbus on his voyages across the Atlantic, intrigued von Humboldt in the Sargasso Sea and inspired artists from Hokusai to Matisse. Covering seaweed's collection by Victorians, its adoption into fashion and dance and its potential for combating climate change, and with a fabulous series of recipes based around the 'truffles of the sea', this is a wonderful gift for every nature lover's home.

profilebooks.com/work/the-seaweed-collectors-handbook/

1 edition

Fionnáin reviewed Seaweed Collector's Handbook by Michele Hutchison

Seaweed as art

4 stars

Miek Zwamborn presents a book of many parts that is very poorly named as it has almost nothing to do with seaweed. In nine chapters, a history of seaweed in art and science is described, drawing from many artists, thinkers and writers. These sections are presented as if they share themes (with msmatched names as poorly chosen as the book title), but often the sections are so scattered with good information poorly connected that the threads get lost. This can be forgiven only because the content is fascinating and because the reproductions of artworks are beautifully printed.

At the end of the book, recipes using seaweed are printed and then follows a section with Zwamborn's fantastic illustrations next to descriptions of many different types of seaweed. This final section alone makes the book worthwhile, but the other parts add value. It would be a perfect book if the early sections …

Miek Zwamborn presents a book of many parts that is very poorly named as it has almost nothing to do with seaweed. In nine chapters, a history of seaweed in art and science is described, drawing from many artists, thinkers and writers. These sections are presented as if they share themes (with msmatched names as poorly chosen as the book title), but often the sections are so scattered with good information poorly connected that the threads get lost. This can be forgiven only because the content is fascinating and because the reproductions of artworks are beautifully printed.

At the end of the book, recipes using seaweed are printed and then follows a section with Zwamborn's fantastic illustrations next to descriptions of many different types of seaweed. This final section alone makes the book worthwhile, but the other parts add value. It would be a perfect book if the early sections were not so disorganised.

toreachpoise@wyrms.de reviewed Seaweed Collector's Handbook by Michele Hutchison

Review of "Seaweed Collector's Handbook" on 'GoodReads'

3 stars

This book mostly contains random cultural notes on seaweed & its preservation. The illustrations are cool and they are interesting, though the sections often follow each other in confusing fashion. I wish there had been more seaweed ID information here, rather than random paragraphs about Harry Potter and Christopher Columbus.