5 comments about Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused.

1. My fiance bought this book for me at Tulip Time 2005 in Holland Michigan. He was born there and spent his whole life there and I have fallen in love with everything Dutch. I just got to start the book a couple of weeks ago but it has been amazing! It conveys everything about the tulip (which I love)! This book is absolutely great!



2. Tulipomania has been on the market for a few years, and I heard of it quite awhile back and finally got around to reading it. Anyone who loves tulips (and does not know why) needs to read this fascinating book.
   
   While living in Amsterdam (1999-2001) weekly I would buy a bunch of 50 tulips for $10 and split the bunch up with friends, I always had them in my apartment, and only now can I identify which ones I was buying. These same friends also shared with me that during WWII, the Dutch were forced to boil and eat tulip bulbs left in warehouses. That's post-modern history of tulips...their origins in the foothills of the Himalayas was a surprise, as was the biological explanation that it is a virus that causes certain tulips to "break" and change colors from one season to the next. These are the flower bulbs that were worth more than their weight in gold, and fortunes were exchanged over possessing the rarest of the rare.
   
   The history of the Dutch is also wrapped up in this very well-researched and written book. Their "economic mindedness" from the the butcher to the banker explains how many everyday people got caught up in "Tulipomania" by buying and selling shares in rare bulbs. As a tulip bulb usually grows larger during the season, it weighs more when dug up in the fall. The Dutch wagered the weight would be higher, and when sold, the extra weight was their profit.
   
   All mania ends in sadness, and when the market for bulbs collapsed, many were left bankrupt, and tulipmania became, once again, only a rich man's game.



3. I read this book years ago - and it's still with me. Observing the stock market, real estate, or gold, I'm reminded of the lessons it imparts.
   
   How often can you say that about a book?
   
   And it was fun to read - if you like histories, of course.



4. In 1562, most of the first tulip bulbs ever to enter Holland were mistaken for a type of onion and were promptly roasted and eaten. The few that were actually planted in the ground popped up the following spring, to the utter astonishment of Dutchmen (and -women). But it took almost another century for the flowers to drive them crazy.
   
   Why would pious, hard-working Calvinist merchants spend fortunes (few won, most lost) on a flower? The story of Holland's infatuation with tulips in the 1630s is as much a story of the temperate Dutch merchants' uncomfortableness with their own wealth. (The Catholics--they could flaunt their money. Calvinists--they had to repress it.)
   
   The Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602. After a few decades of Dutch ships plying distant seas and returning home laden with exotic goods, the merchants with a stake in the game became staggeringly wealthy. Yet even with their newfound wealth, they were still Calvinists: severe and restrained. They didn't decorate themselves (like those Catholics), so they decorated their surroundings. And what to buy with all that wealth? How about a commissioned portrait of wife and kids (looking severe and restrained)? Check. Nice house? Check. Manicured garden behind house? Check. And to fill that garden?
   
   An exotic flower, first introduced from the Orient, became the object of a national obsession. Entire markets were created just to trade tulips, and the markets were soon swamped with speculators. It was the first-ever futures market. At the height of the tulip-mania, in 1636 and 1637, single bulbs could be sold for 3,000 guilders: enough to buy you one ship, eight pigs, four oxen, sundry other animals, a year's worth of food (good food, mind you), a set of clothes, some furniture and some nice silver cutlery to boot.
   
   So why the tulip? Perhaps it was the Calvinist equivalent of the five-carat diamond ring: an acceptable treasure, neither flashy nor ostentatious, but delicate and natural, created by God. (And perhaps the fact that it bloomed only a few weeks every year meant the neighbors couldn't accuse you of constantly showing off your wealth--another sign of God's own temperance.)
   
   The story of any 'mania' offers insight into the aspirations and anxieties of the culture it affects. And even though Mike Dash's 'Tulipomania' focuses primarily on the short-lived craze for a single flower, it opens a window on the social economics of the Dutch "Golden Age": how Holland's merchant class struggled with its strict faith, its new-found wealth, and its place at the center of a burgeoning world power.



5. On a whole this book was pretty good. It provides a lively, readable introduction to the famed tulip boom and bust in 17th century Netherlands. It offers a number of other enjoyable diversions into other topics - snapshot of daily life in 17th century Netherlands, the rise of the tulip in the Ottoman Empire, etc.
   However the book became at times rather redundant and laborious to read. The author would repeat himself and/or contradict himself multiple times over the course of a few pages. The author makes iT sound like that EVERYONE was out there hawking tulips, then he tells us that the tulip trade was at best only conducted on the margins of society, and then back to how EVERYONE is selling off their looms and milk cattle to get into the tulip business.
   The suspense it built around the boom in tulip prices, and then when it comes time to explain the bust? Well that was somewhat of a bust (pun very much intended). Granted, I cannot blame the author for a patchy historical record, I was just hoping for a definite resolution as to what caused the bust.

2 comments about Tulips.

1. If you are a lover of tulips, you should buy this book even though it may be a bit expensive. There are lots of beautiful pictures showing different species of tulips. When you see those pictures, you will want to have all of them. This book also told you the history of tulips. From it, I learnt that tulip was so attractive and popular in Europe since the sixteen century. Even a miller was willing to sell his mill for one rare bulb of tulip. How crazy he loved tulip! This book taught you how to plant tulips. I have planted one before. It's wonderful to see my own tulip growing and growing. If you want to have such unforgetable experience, this book really helps you. I didn't think that tulip bulbs can be added an interesting crunch to salads, cakes etc. Their colour enhances any dish. There were two recipes teaching you how to make use of tulips with your food. It's fantastic and amazing. It's better to buy this book if you want to know more about tulips.



2. While I purchased this book thinking it would help me learn about planting tulip bulbs, I didn't find any planting information. What I did find was still equally enjoyable. I learned that my favorite flower once grew wild in central Asia. I also found a creative idea for a "Tulip Ice Bowl." There is a short history of tulips and Chris Mead's photography captures the free, optomistic and swaying in the breeze life of the tulip.
   
   If you are looking for a house warming gift, this would be so well received with a bunch of fresh tulips. When I look at this book, it reminds me of visiting LaConner, Washington for the Tulip Festival.
   
   ~The Rebecca Review

No comments about Tulip Obsessed: Stories, Facts, and Photographs for the Truly Obsessed.

No comments about Magnetic Tulip Companion (The Magnet Gardener).

5 comments about The Black Tulip (Unabridged).

1. While The Black Tulip lacks the swashbuckling, derring-do adventures of the other Dumas novels I have read, it is every bit as enjoyable to read.
   
   Beginning with the arrest of two brothers, deemed traitors to the throne, Dumas Holland-based story at least begins with as strong a conflict as his other more action-laced novels. But the story, while shifting focus to the Godson of one of the men arrested, concerns his passion and pursuit of the highly coveted black tulip, a strain of Holland's most popular horticultural export. Cornelius van Baerle, a man of comfortable means, is little concerned with his wealth, or with position; or at all suspicious of the papers left in his care by his Godfather prior to his arrest. M. van Baerle has but one pursuit, one goal, and one dream...to produce a flawless, rare black tulip.
   
   Thus his downfall, as an avaricious neighbor,Isaac Boxtel, shares this dream, but for entirely different reasons. While Cornelius van Baerle cares not for the riches and fame associated with growing such a flower, Boxtel covets both and plots to eliminate his competition and abscond with the delicate blossom which will net him one hundred thousand florins, more than enough to live like the King himself.
   
   M. van Baerle is, therefore, convicted of treason when Boxtel reveals the existence of the papers of va Baerle's godfather to the authorities, and M. van Baerle finds himself on the wrong side of prison bars.
   
   However, the appearance of an unexpected love awakens passions in Cornelius to rival those he feels for the black tulip, and ignites a desire in him to share the possible wealth associated with the flower, simply to assure it's development and care.
   
   Thus, the race is on to plant, grow, and deliver the black tulip to the Horticultural Society.
   
   Dumas' writing skills are in fine form with this shorter novel, sparing none of the humor, grace, and elegance of other works of his I have indulged in. And while foils are left in scabbards, no plots to overthrow a corrupt Cardinal materialize, and revenge is not sought against the bad-guys...this novel is every bit as exciting.
   
   A fine way to experience one of France's most prolific historical authors for the first time, or to further explore his catalogue of works.



2. Not everyone could do it. In fact, almost no one else that I could think of, could construct a story about a gardener whose main passion in life is to grow a new variety of tulip, and turn it into a compelling, intrigue-filled, heroic romance. But Dumas does, here.
   
   Certainly, Dumas shines in his more famous novels, like The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, giants of hundreds and hundreds of pages (thousands if you consider the entire Musketeer cycle), repleat with swashbuckling, conspiracy, murder and ladies-fair. It is therefore understandable that some of his audience might be put off by The Black Tulip, which is a scant 200 and some pages, and has its hero in jail for most of the novel, struggling to grow a flower by proxy. But really, the lesson is how great Alexandre Dumas is, because The Black Tulip manages to be just as rewarding (and at times, as thrilling) as his more renowned epics. Also, Dumas here shows some of his versatility and his incredible understanding of humanity, in the lovers conversations between Cornelius and Rosa, and in his rye, good-natured and subtle observations that, really, concentrating on tulip-growing, as opposed to warfare or violence, is a sign of greatness, not of mediocrity.
   
   You can't come to The Black Tulip looking for precisely the same things you'd seek in Dumas' other winners, but if you're looking for a wonderful little story, almost perfectly told, you're in the right place. With this tale, Dumas takes his place as my favorite author, of all time.



3. Who would have thought that a book, with a simple plot about two rivals trying racing to be the first to grow a black tulip, could be so unputdownable? There are no lords and ladies, no swashbuckling heros, no evil cardinals or Miladys -- nothing but a darn good yarn, and a very sweet love story.
   
   Dumas is just brilliant (as always) and his dialogue (as always) is among the finest I've ever come across. A very quick, albeit enjoyable, read. Highly recommended.



4. I love Dumas. I had never heard of The Black Tulip. It is a big departure from his standard fare. It is also very short. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone that loves Dumas' swashbuckling heros. It is totally different. However, if you can get pass the fact that it is a Dumas book and contains no sword fights, then it is a sweet book.



5. I bought this book for my daughter, who rarely reads fiction. I recall The Black Tulip as light,humorous and of historical interest. This edition is very attractive.

1 comments about A Treasury of Tulips.

1. Anyone who loves tulips and does not have too much time to spare should have this book.
   It is very basic but covers almost every tulip related topic you can think of. It's a cute little book that adults and children will enjoy.

1 comments about Tulips: For North American Gardens.

1. 'Tulips for American Gardens' by bulb retailers, Brent and Becky Heath is an excellent book on at least three counts, if you can get it for less than $10 and not at its list price of $24.95. The most important feature is the fact that it is all about tulips. There are no general facts which include daffodils, narcissus, corms, rhizomes, tubers, or other subterranean perennials. My practical experience says that tulips and daffodils require substantially different treatment, and this book tells all about tulips. The second special feature is the fact that the catalogue of tulip species and cultivars actually fits what I see in my favorite bulb dealer's catalogue. So many times, one sees no connection between cultivar names in texts and your favorite distributor. But, since virtually all tulips originate in Holland, everyone is pretty much working off the same page. The third virtue is that the book is dedicated to our own 'neighborhood', the planting zones of the United States.
   
   While the book as printed is a bit pricy, it is a great source at discounted prices and there is nothing I needed to know which was not in here, most especially information on which cultivars naturalize well and which do not.

No comments about Tulips: The Complete Guide to Selecting and Growing (Gardener's Library (Firefly Books)).

3 comments about Tulipa: A Photographer's Botanical.

1. In all of my years, I have never seen quite a unique and exquisite celebration of the maginificence of these natural wonders. Christopher Baker's eye portray's the simple elegance of these flowers with a passion that is fascinating. One can hardly appreciate the vast array of the tulips' varieties, surely never seen before. I congratulate Christopher on this masterful and clearly personal gift of his life's passion. The photography is gracefully complemented by reverant prose that both leaves much to the imagination, but skillfully engrosses the reader in these magical creations. I can only say this, while a rose may always be a rose, every tulip, since this wonderful publication, is truly it's own incarnation. Thank you, Mr. Baker.



2. This is not a practical "how to" book of gardening, but it is a simply gorgeous book to look through nonetheless. An excellant addition for an avid tulip enthusiast who likes to collect books on subject. Contains a comprehensive listing of tulips and has close-up pictures of many types not usually pictured in other tulip books. Gives historical information that is interesting but not really useful. Makes a great book for your coffee table and even my friends who don't garden always enjoy looking through this book. I rate it 5 stars because I think it is a beautiful book, but I do think it is over-priced and if you are looking for a book to give you practical tips on planting bulbs, this is not for you.



3. In recent years, my approach to planting tulips and other small spring-flowering bulbs has been to dig down to the core ground underneath the raised bed I use for flowers, line the bed with composted cow manure laced with bone meal, and toss the bulbs in, letting them lie where they land. I usually buy an assortment of my favorite tulips including Negrita and Queen of the Night which I mix up, so come spring, I have a nice surprise when they emerge, but I cannot always tell which tulip is which.
   
   TULIPA by Baker and Lemmers will help me solve some of the mystery. With hundreds of tulip photographs I can use in the identity parade, plus some descriptive text, I should be able to sort out the riot of colors come spring. TULIPA is an exquisite art book, in which the authors have used the Netherlandish floral paintings of the Golden Age for inspiration for their photographs.
   
   Tulips are featured in all their splendor, many owing a single page, while others are arranged around a page as if in a loose bouquet. Some are open ala Georgia O'Keefe, others closed demurely. The text of the book is sparse, with short essays by Michael Pollen, editor and garden author; Christopher Baker, photographer; and William Lemmers , member of the Tulip Committee of the Royal Bulb Growers Association (KAVB) and the Royal Horticultural Society in London.
   
   Lacey frilly, and in some cases not unlike an ice cream sundae. What's not to like about tulips? Given it's price, this is not the book to buy if you only want a practical guide to growing tulips, but it will make a lovely addition to your art library.

5 comments about The Tulip.

1. I could not finish this book, and I thought it would be right up my alley. It was a sort of a mix of anecdotes and history. Personally I could have done without the anecdotes.



2. Ms.Pavord certainly does love her tulips - the narrative is strewn with latin names for every variety of tulip.
   Originally from the middle-east and very different to most other flowers, the discovery of strange multi-coloured hybrids that appeared spontaneously kept nurserymen occupied for years looking for the perfect specimen. This led to an outrageous inflation in the price, people selling their homes to buy one bulb!

   Written in a style that fails to hold one's attention, there is perhaps a tad more botanical detail than is necessary for the layman, but when one considers that this is the second book - a corollary to a scholarly exercise - on tulips, it is surprising that so little jargon is used.
   Very informative though lacking in story-telling. ***.




3. `The Tulip' by Anna Pavord is a much different sort of book than the now famous `The Orchid Thief' written by `New Yorker' writer Susan Orlean and the basis of the movie starring Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper.
   
   Ms. Pavord is a much more conventional writer on things horticultural, although this is certainly not a conventional horticultural book. The subtitle, `The Story of A Flower That Has Made Men Mad' begins to give a sense of the historical importance of the tulip which began as a wild flower native ranging from Asia Minor (modern Turkey) to Persia (modern Iran) and domesticated under the Ottoman sultans who ruled this part of the world in the mid-15th century.
   
   The tulip mania reached heights which are hard to believe today and I'm hard pressed to think of anything comparable in the modern world unless it is the income of professional sportsmen such as Tiger Woods and Andre Agassi who receive astronomical compensations for lending their names to commercial products purely on the basis of a skill at something which for almost everyone else on the planet is a recreation.
   
   I make this comparison because as a tulip grower myself, I find this simply nothing more than a decoration, no more nor less valuable than our dahlias, marigolds, and chrysanthemums. This book makes clear the fact that from 1560 to 1750, the tulip became much, much more than a pretty decoration for spring gardens and dining room floral arrangements.
   
   One thing I can appreciate is the novelty of this lovely flower to the rather dour shores of France, Germany, England, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia in the 16th century. Not only was this flower colorful, even before modern breeders got a hold of it and created an almost endless series of hybrids, but it had an almost magical property of having unusually colored mutants arise from bulbs of monochrome flowers. Ordinary tulip bulbs became unusually pricy in this 200 year period; however, these `sport' bulbs which did not carry over to seeds given off by these plants were sold for astronomical prices, sometimes even as high as the price of a house of the time (in the late 19th century, the cause of this mutation was discovered to be caused by a virus).
   
   While the author does not offer a lot of theorizing on the subject, it seems that Europe was as interested in decorative plants acquired in this age of Exploration as they were with the new foodstuffs coming from the new world. And, while the Dutch were adept horticulturists, so that they had the skills to grow the tulip as well or better than the French or the English, they were also the leading mercantile power in Europe and Asia (leaving the New World to the Spanish) in this period. This means they had the means to bring back to Holland a wide variety of tulips and other bulb flowers.
   
   After the tulip's financial bubble burst, it's popularity was sustained by countless garden clubs in northern Europe, especially in England, leading to the explosion we see today in tulip hybridization surpassed, I suspect by only the business in rose hybrids.
   
   As histories of science and technology go, this may not be quite as thrilling as the history of quantum physics or astrophysics or even mathematics, but it is a great tale of where the intersection of novelty and human folly can take us.



4. I read this book for a non-fiction book club. It was selected based on reviews. This was quite simply the most boring book I have ever tried to read. As stated by others, there was absolutely no story line. It should be listed as a horticulture book so that those of us looking for a story line are not dupped into paying $15 for a book that in my opinion never should have been published.



5. I found this book frustrating to read...it is a collection of interesting historical anecdotes strung together like an assembly of mis-sorted beads. Each one of them might stand alone as an essay but the author seems to be lacking the craft or will to force them together into an entertaining narrative.
   
   My experience trying to read this was like being dragged to the opera--at first I was seduced by the pageantry and vivid colors, but eventually I grew bored and wished it would end. Read one chapter of this book and you may like it, but it takes real will and focus to make it to the end.