Tulips: A Reading List
Still Life with Flowers and Nuts, c. 1830, Anthony Oberman, The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Few flowers have inspired as much passion, art, and intrigue as the tulip. First celebrated in the gardens of the Ottoman Empire, where it became a symbol of refinement and paradise, the flower later ignited Tulipmania in 17th-century Holland and found new life among English florists in the 18th and 19th centuries. From imperial courts to cottage gardens, its story is one of beauty, obsession, and enduring allure—perfectly captured in the books below.
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Dutch Tulipmania by Heather Bolen
Dutch Tulipmania: The Truth Behind the Myth of a Flower-Fueled Folly, by Travel & Culture Salon founder Heather Bolen, transports readers to 17th-century Holland, when the tulip stood at the crossroads of art, science, and desire. This 70-page, magazine-quality booklet pairs the true story of Tulipmania with luminous reproductions of Dutch paintings, prints, and decorative arts, capturing the spirit and intrigue of the Dutch Golden Age.
The Tulip by Anna Pavord
Considered by many to be the bible of tulip history, this now-classic, internationally bestselling work is not a gardening book but a sweeping cultural history. In The Tulip, Anna Pavord traces the flower’s extraordinary journey—from its origins as a wild bloom on the Asian steppes to its rise as a global obsession that inspired greed, desire, anguish, and devotion in equal measure. Indulge in the hardback edition for its sumptuous illustrations and timeless storytelling.
The Tulip Garden by Polly Nicholson
~An informative reference guide as well as a gorgeous coffee table book.
With stunning photography by Andrew Montgomery, The Tulip Garden explores the cultivation and preservation of rare and historic tulips. Polly Nicholson blends cultural history with practical advice, covering species, historic Dutch and English Florists' tulips, and annual varieties. From her 17th-century Wiltshire, England manor, Nicholson works to safeguard these heritage bulbs.
Tulips: A Little Book of Flowers by Tara Austen Weaver
“Delightful…Next time you are lucky enough to be someone’s houseguest, consider arriving with … the Little Book of Flowers.” —The New York Times
This charming little hardcover book features: 40+ full-color botanical illustrations, introductory botany and history, everything you need to know to grow gorgeous blooms in the garden, tips for creating beautiful arrangements, quotes, lore, and profiles of notable gardens and growers. Like a bouquet of tulips, this book is the perfect hostess gift or Mother's Day present for gardeners and flower lovers. It’s part of the collectible mini gift book series Little Book of Natural Wonders.
Tulipmania by Anne Goldgar
~A scholarly work, yet also deeply entertaining
Drawing on extensive archival research, Goldgar dispels the legends about tulip mania, revealing that while the 1630s did witness a speculative bubble in tulip prices, neither the height of the bubble nor its bursting were anywhere near as dramatic as we tend to think. By clearing away the accumulated myths, Goldgar reveals a far more complex reality: how tulipmania reflected deep anxieties about the transformation of Dutch society during the Golden Age.
Tulip, by Celia Fisher
~A more compact alternative to Anna Pavord’s iconic work on the cultural and botanical history of the tulip
A concisely written account of various wild tulips, from their origins in the mountains of Central Asia to their cultivation in the gardens of Mughal, Persian, and Ottoman rulers and their transfer along the Silk Road. Tulip is an appropriately illustrated botanical and cultural history of this beloved bulb.
Tulip Fever: A Novel by Deborah Moggach
~A sensual tale of art, lust, and deception—now a major motion picture
Set in 1630s Amsterdam, when tulipomania has seized the populace, this richly imagined international bestseller follows a young woman named Sophia, who marries an elderly man, Cornelis, out of financial necessity to support her impoverished family. But when Cornelis commissions a portrait of them both by the talented young painter Jan van Loos, a slow passion begins to burn between the beautiful young wife and the talented artist. While not historically accurate, Moggach’s lush, lyrical work of fiction is also compulsively readable.
