SOWERBY 1800 H/C - Schoenus 791

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Double your traffic. ORIGINAL HAND-COLORED COPPER-PLATE ENGRAVING by JAMES SOWERBY of Compressed Bog-Rush (Schoenus compressus) Plate 791 from ENGLISH BOTANY - RARE FIRST EDITION Plates in this set date from 1795 - 1812 ****NO RESERVE**** SIZE: Approx 9 1/2" x 5 3/4" Large Paper 240 x 150 mm CONDITION: Very Good (but see comments & image below) The plate comes with its corresponding text page. Please Note That For All Payments, Shipping on these Plates (Airmail & Insured) Will be $10. (Multiple shipments of similar items AT NO EXTRA CHARGE) You are bidding on an ORIGINAL HAND-COLORED COPPER-PLATE ENGRAVING from the FIRST EDITION of 'ENGLISH BOTANY' by Sir James Smith, with illustrations by James Sowerby, publ. London 1790-1814. The plate comes with its corresponding text page. Please also note collectors that we are finding it increasingly difficult to source these prints, a very finite number were produced, less & less are to be found on the market. CONDITION: Very Good. There is some age toning of the paper, particularly to the edges (accentuated by the scans) and in some cases foxing. There is also minor bleed-through of text ink on some of the plates and some rumpling of the paper (very common with 1st Ed. plates which are 200 + years old!) (See Scan.) IMAGE: The accompanying scan is high quality and is ACTUAL SIZE and REPRESENTATIVE of the ACTUAL PRINT. Background James Sowerby (21 March 1757 � 25 October 1822) 'English Botany' was a remarkable publication. The first edition was published in 36 volumes with a total of no less than 2592 hand-colored plates (all apparently engraved by Sowerby himself). The unattributed text was written by James Edward Smith. A supplement (1831-66) produced after Sowerby's death increased the total number of plates to 2999. There can be few works of botany to compare with a work on such a monumental scale as this. It is a truly remarkable achievement. Second and Third editions of the work were published during the course of the 19th Century. First edition volumes are now very rare. Full first edition sets (if you can find them) are selling for very substantial sums. Sowerby was born in Lambeth, London, his parents were named John and Arabella. Having decided to become a painter of flowers his first venture was with William Curtis, whose Flora Londinensis he illustrated. Sowerby studied art at the Royal Academy and took an apprenticeship with Richard Wright. He married Anne Brettingham De Carle and they were to have three sons: James De Carle Sowerby (1787�1871), George Brettingham Sowerby I (1788�1854) and Charles Edward Sowerby (1795�1842), the Sowerby family of naturalists. His sons and theirs were to contribute and continue the enormous volumes he was to begin and the Sowerby name was to remain associated with illustration of natural history.An early commission for Sowerby was to lead to his prominence in the field when the botanist L'Hértier de Brutelle invited Sowerby to provide the plates for his monograph, Geranologia, and two later works. He also came to the notice of William Curtis, who was undertaking a new type of publication. Early volumes of the first British botany journal, The Botanical Magazine, contained seventy of his works. Sir James Edward Smith (2 December 1759 � 17 March 1828) was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society. Audubon_UK We specialize in Antiquarian Color Plate Books & Plates mostly, but not exclusively, from the 19th Century, especially Botanical, Ornithology and other Natural History works. We acquire most of our plates from pre-existing plate collections. PAYMENT Payment is expected within 10 days of auction end. We accept Paypal only. SHIPPING Please Note That For All Payments, Shipping, In Flat Pack, (Airmail & Insured) Will be... read more

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