The Botanic Garden by Erasmus Darwin

The career of Erasmus Darwin affords an extraordinary glimpse into the intellectual ferment of late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century Britain. His magnum opus, and the synthesis of his myriad interests, is The Botanic Garden (1792) — an epic poem that aims to "enlist the Imagination under the banner of Science." Despite a recent surge of academic interest in Darwin, however, no authoritative critical edition of The Botanic Garden exists. This two volume set comprises a complete reading text along with extensive commentary that situates Darwin within contemporary debates about the natural sciences the "science of the mind", aesthetics, sexuality, politics, and spirituality.