‘Stacey's luminous photographs of plants collected over a period of 230 years are complemented by Hay's lively text about those who lived, and in some cases died, in pursuit of them.’
The Telegraph (London)

'Based around the National herbarium of New South Wales, this is a fascinating and pictorially stunning history of its creation and present day status. … With an informative, easy-to-read and endlessly fascinating essay on the subject by Ashley Hay, as well as the stunning photographic portraits, this is a book for all spectrums of reader - gardener, historian, adventure-lovers, botanist and museum-lovers.'
The Book Place

'It will whet its readers' appetites, leaving them eager to know more about the culture of natural history that shaped the Macleays and their collections.'
Times Literary Supplement

‘In an exquisite introductory essay, Ashley Hay tells how Alexander [Macleay]'s son William and nephew William John succumbed to the same mania, piling up butterflies and beetles, bats, gnats and bandicoots, corals and sea lilies, cuscuses and birds of paradise (William John led and paid for the colony's first scientific expedition to New Guinea)...’
Time Magazine

‘This book of sumptuous photography is the result of an important creative collaboration between Robyn Stacey, one of the Australia's leading photographers, and the curators of the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales.’

Author Peter Timms’ introductory essay explores the HHT properties, asking us to consider the value of these objects.’
Architecture AU