THE BOTANICAL MAGAZINE :OR FLOWER GARDEN DISPLAYED

By

William Curtis

Antique hand coloured botanical print 

NARCISSUS BULBOCODIUM

HOOP PETTICOAT NARCISSUS

The print is accompanied by the original descriptive text

  Curtis's Botanical Magazine begun in 1787, this journal is still being published to this day; it is the oldest periodical in existence featuring coloured plates, of which more than 11,000 have now been produced. The work of many acclaimed botanical artists, its volumes provide an exceptional pictorial record of floral fashions and plant introductions in Great Britain over the past two centuries. Curtis's first major publishing endeavour was his Flora Londinensis. Begun in 1774, this work aimed to illustrate the plants growing around London. At the time, however, there was generally more interest in showy exotic flowers than the native 'weeds' of London. Despite its beautifully produced colour plates, it was a financial failure and never completed. There was, however, a demand for an authoritative work on the numerous new plants from overseas that gardening enthusiasts were trying to grow at home. Curtis saw an opportunity to recoup some of the losses he had incurred, and launched his Botanical Magazine. He initially used the artists he had already employed for the Flora Londinensis, such as James Sowerby and William Kilburn, drawing on specimens from his own botanical garden. As Curtis states in the preface to the first issue, the plates were drawn 'always from the living plant, and coloured as near to nature, as the imperfection of colouring will admit'. With little chance to exert any artistic freedom, each artist had to draw the specimens exactly and accurately in order to create a scientifically authoritative work. Ref: Nissen 2254, Great flower books p.84

Date: 1789

Size: approximately 9 " x 5 1/2 ", 230mm x 145mm

Condition: occasional browning, slightly creased, otherwise good; We provide high-resolution very
accurate images, please have a look at them and make your own final judgement

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