High-spirited, indefatigable, and brave (not to mention a colleague of Charles Darwin), the botanical artist North kept detailed journals of her travels around the globe in search of plants, published in three volumes in the late 1800s. Abundant Beauty collects the most engaging writings from those journals in one edition, including rich descriptions of botanica and delightful accounts of local people and customs from her sometimes dangerous travels. Edited by Laura Ponsonby, former Archivist at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, home to the Marianne North Gallery.  (TVL552, $16.95)