Sibthorp and Smith's Flora Graeca (1806-1840), illustrated by Ferdinand Bauer and often described as 'Oxford's finest botanical treasure', is considered the most splendid and expensive Flora ever produced. The ten volumes document the flora of the Mediterranean, based on the studies of John Sibthorp, Sherardian Professor of Botany at the university from 1784 until his death in 1796. The volumes are accompanied by illustrations executed by Austrian botanical illustrator Ferdinand Bauer, who joined Sibthorp on his Mediterranean expeditions.

A project in the mid-2000s digitized a full set of the Flora Graeca, together with Bauer's original drawings and watercolours, on which the published engravings were based. Also digitized were Bauer's "Fauna Graeca" drawings of animals of the Mediterranean, created for a never-published work, and a unique series of topographic "Mediterranean Scenes".

The digitized objects here are a mix of complete volumes and individual drawings. The complete volumes are:

• The published Flora Graeca: Sherard 761, 762, 763, 764 and 765 (with two published volumes per item).
• Bauer's original Flora Graeca drawings and watercolours: MS. Sherard 241, 242, 243, 244 and 245.
• Bauer's unpublished Fauna Graeca drawings: MS. Sherard 238, 239 and 240.
• Bauer's Mediterranean Scenes. MS. Sherard 408.