Set of 7 Antique Botanical Prints, Early 1800s, Authentic Curtis and Sowerby

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Description

There is great detail in each drawing, including the original embossed frame outlines. Each one has been double matted in … Read more There is great detail in each drawing, including the original embossed frame outlines. Each one has been double matted in off white with a subtle green layer, with artistic pen and embossing detail, and then framed in 12” x 15” vintage gilt frames. The flower colors are in very subtle pink, yellow, purple, and white.

The original printed information page has been included when possible; see photos. The original hand colored illustrations date between 1800 to 1814.

Plates 361, 684, 697, 725, 752, and 1415 are from the James Sowerby book English Botany, commonly known as Sowerby’s Botany, which became the most comprehensive illustrated flora of Great Britain at the time, renowned for its detailed hand-colored engravings and accessible commentary.

The full title reads; English Botany or, Coloured Figures of British Plants, with their Essential Characters, Synonyms and Places of Growth. The complete First Edition comprises 2,592 hand-coloured, finely detailed, copper-plate engravings, including 3 fold-outs, each with a single page of text.

361 - Bartisia Alpina or Alpine Bartsia, rare mountain wildflower native to northern and alpine regions of the UK and Europe
684 - Oenanthe phellandrium (related to the highly toxic Cicuta virosa family), this plate depicts the fine, multi-branched aquatic stems of the Water Hemlock.
697 - Scandix Oderata, Sweet Cicely or Great Chervil
725 - Rumex maritimus or Golden Dock (Volume 11, published in 1800
752 - Anthriscus sylvestris, popularly referred to as Cow Parsley.
1415 - Odontites, or Red Bartsia is a distinctive wild flower native to Europe.

Plate 1802 is by Samuel Curtis from Curtis's Botanical Magazine. First published in 1787, it is the world's longest-running botanical periodical. Samuel Curtis managed and published the magazine in the early 1800s, producing famous works like The Beauties of Flora.

ARTIST BACKGROUND:
James Sowerby (21 March 1757 – 25 October 1822) was an English naturalist, illustrator and mineralogist. Contributions to published works, such as A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland or English Botany, include his detailed and appealing plates. The use of vivid colour and accessible texts was intended to reach a widening audience in works of natural history.

Samuel Curtis (1779–1860) was an English botanist, horticulturist, and publisher. He is best known for managing and publishing the famous Curtis's Botanical Magazine, the longest-running botanical periodical in the world See less