From the 16th C. when the first drawings appeared, to the 20th C. when photography took over, a select group of skilled artists created records of new discoveries. Artists went on expeditions with explorers and scientists, to record and describe. Their work, for the most part, was kept in royal collections and national libraries. The decorative aspects of classic botanicals were greatly admired in ages past. Artist such as Redout?, Besler and Maria Sybilla Merian are now famous and their illustration fetch astronomical prices when offered at major art auctions.