Triangular Aloe by William Curtis (3 results)

Unframed. Condition: Very Good. A fine original hand-coloured copper engraving, dated 1805; a very early plate from this famous work, size approx. 12 x 20cm. The condition is very good, colours are still very bright. (supplied without accompanying text or mount). The quality of the illustrations in the Botanical Magazine is outstanding, both accurate and decorative, the colours vibrant. William Curtis (1746-1799) was a trained apothecary living in London, although his passion was for natural history, particularly plants and insects. He maintained a large well-stocked garden and began the publication of the Botanical Magazine in February 1787, which has gone on to become the most famous and influential botanical publication of its type; it is still published today, making it the longest running scientific periodical of all time. Curtis edited the first 13 volumes, and was then succeeded by John Simms (1800-1826), William Jackson Hooker (1827-1865) and Joseph Dalton Hooker (1865-1904), the current editor of the magazine is Martyn Rix. The fine illustrations were by many artists including Sydenham Edwards, William Graves, James Sowerby, John Curtis, William Jackson Hooker, W.H. Fitch, J. N. Fitch, Matilda Smith, Lillian Snelling and Stella Rose Craig. The plates were hand-coloured up to 1948!, all being copper engravings to around 1840, and then stone or zinc lithography until the introduction of color printing in 1948. References: Blunt;The Art of Botanical Illustration, Great Flower Books pp 156 - 157, Nissen BPI 2350, Staflue 1290. (Please Note: we do not break books for plates, nor do we condone this practice. Our plates have either been purchased loose or have come from books that are so defective or incomplete that they are irreparable) Size: 12 x 20cm. Print.

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. This originally hand-colored engraving is from William Curtisâs "The Botanical Magazine; or, Flower-Garden displayed: in which the most ornamental foreign plants, cultivated in the open ground, the green-house, and the stove, are accurately represented in their natural colours." The is engraving was published between 1803 and 1809 in London by S. Couchman. --- William Curtis (1746-1799) was a famous English botanist. He was determined to produce a scientifically accurate journal, and so took care that artists used live specimens for reference. Each plate features a meticulously drawn specimen with an accompanying descriptive text for each. The first 70 volumes (1787-mid1800s) were printed using copper etching and then finished with watercolor added by hand. --- Commonly referred to as Curtis' "Botanical Magazine", this prolific periodical was first published in 1787 and is still in publication today by the Kew Gardens. "It is, indeed, the oldest current scientific periodical of its kind with coloured illustrations in the world, and in the beauty of production and high standard of its contributions it can claim a unique place" (Henry II, p. 302) --- The work is in very good to excellent condition overall. There may be a few minor marks or imperfections to be expected with age. Please review the image carefully for condition and contact us with any questions. --- Paper Size ~ 5 1/2" by 9".

An original antique engraving published for CURTISS BOTANICAL MAGAZINE; OR FLOWER-GARDEN DISPLAYED in 1808. Original hand colour and comes with original text page. Size approx 14cm x 23cm including margins.William Curtis (11 January 1746 andndash; 7 July 1799) was an English botanist and entomologist who was born in Alton, Hampshire, site of the Curtis Museum. Curtis began as an apothecary, before turning his attention to botany and other natural history. The publications he prepared reached a wider audience than early works on the subject had intended. At the age of 25 he produced Instructions for collecting and preserving insects; particularly moths and butterflies. Curtis was demonstrator of plants and Praefectus Horti at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1771 to 1777. He established his own London Botanic Garden at Lambeth in 1779, moving to Brompton in 1789. He published Flora Londinensis (6 volumes, 1777andndash;1798), a pioneering work in that it devoted itself to urban nature. Financial success was not found, but he went on the publish The Botanical Magazine in 1787, a work that would also feature hand coloured plates by artists such as James Sowerby and Sydenham Edwards. (William Kilburn is often erroneously cited as having contributed plates to Curtiss Botanical Magazine.Though he did provide illustrations to Flora Londinensis, his association with Curtis seems to have ended by 1777, 10 years before the first publication of the Botanical Magazine) . Curtis was to gain wealth from the ventures into publishing, short sales on Londinensis were offset by over 3,000 copies of the magazine. Curtis said they had each brought pudding or praise. The genus Curtisia is named in his honour. His publication was continued as the esteemed botanical publication, Curtiss Botanical Magazine. He was buried in the churchyard at St. Marys Church, Battersea where he is commemorated in a stained glass window, as many of his samples were collected from the churchyard there. His headstone, now lost, had the epitaph While living herbs shall spring profusely wild, or gardens cherish all thats blithe and gay, So long thy works shall please, dear Natures child, So long thy memry suffer no decay.