Lot 133
Thornton, Robert John
Rare Books, Maps & Manuscripts
Auction: Rare Books, Maps & Manuscripts
Description
Picturesque botanical plates of the new illustration of the sexual system of Linnaeus. London: printed for the publisher, 1799. Large folio, engraved title, 7 mezzotint and/or aquatint engraved plates printed in colour and coloured by hand, [plates dated 1799-1801], comprising:
1) Tulips. Second state
2) The Superb Lily. Engraved by Earlom, possibly second state, with aquatint added; surface bloom, creasing to plate margin
3) The Aloe. Second state, reworked, hard horizon.
4)Large flowering sensitive plant. Probably first state: sky in aquatint.
5) The Blue Passion Flower. Possibly second state: shadows smaller and softer edged.
6) The Night-Blowing Cereus. Plate A. flourish of T in title cuts through "ht" of Moonlight, Second state with minute hand covers the dot between XII and I and the clock face has no band, clock face light, ripples in water straight;
7) The Dragon Arum. ? Second state: added mezzotint in top half, dark cloud at top reaches mid print.
Descriptive text leaf for The Superb Lily and Night-Blowing Cereus only, a few spots, occasional slight dust-soiling, Superb Lily with surface bloom & marginal tear repaired, slightly dust-soiled; Aloe with small marginal tear, The Night-Blowing Cereus with slight surface bloom and slight dampstain to upper corner, Dragon Arum with slight surface bloom and slight dampstain to lower margin, bound with [on smaller paper] The Genera of Exotic and Indigenous plants. [1801]: [Frontispiece, title, 8pp. printed text, engraved leaf "Explanation of the Second Table", and 2 diagrammatic plates], contemporary half calf, rubbed, some light dust-soiling and a few spots to plates
Footnote
Note: Thornton conceived his masterpiece New Illustration of the Sexual System of Carolus von Linnaeus (more commonly known as The Temple of Flora) in the mid 1790s, and advertised the work in 1797, issuing it in parts between 1799 and 1807. The composition of the work varies greatly, but in its standard form it comprises three sections, of which the last -- 'The Temple of Flora' -- contains the magnificent botanical plates for which the work is celebrated. However, Thornton issued his works over a period of year in various permutations, frequently incorporating extant engravings into new works, or issuing components as discrete works. The present volume appears to be a product of this somewhat erratic method of publication: it contains only seven of the plates.
The completed work was entitled "New Illustration of the Sexual System of...Linnaeus. Comprehending...The Temple of Flora" and was published between 1799-1807, in three parts. It comprised 31 hand-finished color plates to the Temple of Flora, 6 portraits, 11 engraved calligraphic titles & half-titles and 6 engraved plates & tables.