Enjoy a rare opportunity to view spectacular illustrated botanical books from the collections of the Carter and its new Cultural District neighbor, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT). The research library at the Carter collects such books primarily for their artistic merits, while the research library at BRIT values them primarily as scientific documents. Nature Bound: Illustrated Botanical Books offers an opportunity to examine the relationship of art and science through these complex collaborations of botanists, horticulturists, naturalists, draftsmen, painters, printmakers, publishers, and printers.

Arranged chronologically from the early 17th through the 19th centuries, these books cover a wide range of North American plant life, with focus on the United States. They also document the evolution of illustration and printing techniques over the centuries. While botanic illustration chiefly serves a scientific role as an aid to identification, many of the illustrations in this exhibition clearly attain another level: singular works of art.