Hortus Bulborum: Treasury of Historic Bulbs, Leslie Leijenhorst, (2004. Dutch and English, softcover, 177 pages, 68 color photos). Here’s the story of Holland’s tiny Noah’s ark of bulbs. Founded in 1928, the Hortus today preserves 3700 rare historic tulip, hyacinth, daffodil and other bulbous cultivars -- the largest collection being tulips. With antique images, color photos, and a list of the entire collection (at date of publication), this unique book offers an inside look at the history of bulbs. (OHG)

Anna Pavord, Tulipa. (Bloomsbury, 1999). Lots of history and descriptions. (RdV)

Wilfrid Blunt, Tulipomania. Penguin King Book, 1950. (RdV)

Mike Dash, Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused. (Great Britain:Victor Gollancz, 1999). A very readable account. (RdV)

Anne Goldgar, Tulipmania: Money , Honor, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age. (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2007). A thorough and well documented history, the results of a post-doctoral fellowship in the classic bulb trade. (RdV)