Miss [?J.] Smith of Adwick-Hall near Doncaster (fl. circa 1818) Studies of Flowers from Nature . London: printed by W. & S. Graves ... and sold by Miss Smith, 1818. Part Number 1 (only, of 10), 2° (375 x 265mm). Hand-coloured engraved aquatint title. 2 aquatint copper-engraved plates of 'Gentianella' and 'Fuschia coccinea' each in hand-coloured and uncoloured states, 2 text leaves, one uncoloured plate partially coloured in a light blue wash. Original printed wrappers, the upper wrapper with letterpress title within greek-key pattern border, modern cloth portfolio with gilt morocco label to upper cover (the wrappers frayed with loss at the edges and skilfully re-margined, spine neatly restored). Provenance : Princess Elizabeth of England and Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg (presentation inscription on upper wrapper); sold by Christie's, London 21 July 1976, lot 91. The dedication copy of the first part, inscribed to 'her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth', of 'a rare work with finely coloured plates' (Dunthorne). The present copy is possibly an advance prospectus issue for the dedicatee, using the plates and text of the first part bound in wrappers with a printed 'Prospectus' and manuscript note of subscription cost ('Subscription five guineas') on the lower wrapper and manuscript date of publication ('March 10 t h'). There is no part number or price inserted on the upper wrapper and the space by 'Part' is stroked through. The work, 'illustrated with excellent fine-grain aquatints' (Blunt p.256), is typically of the genre of botanical colouring books, which sprung up in the very late 18th and early 19th century, frequently written and drawn by female artists and drawing teachers, such as Clara Maria Pope (see lot 77), Mrs Withers or Mary Lawrence The format of these books was similar to that of Studies of Flowers from Nature , which was aimed at 'young Ladies and private Governesses' ('Prospectus'). Fashionable though these floral copybooks were, perhaps due in part to the royal patronage that they received, as Blunt notes, 'many of them, to judge by their rarity to-day, were either published in small editions or thrown away when they had been duly ''tinted in'' ' (pp.255-256). Princess Elizabeth of England (1770-1840) was the seventh child of George III and Queen Charlotte, and an enthusiastic amateur artist, whose patronage of this work is entirely apt: she and her mother had both taken lessons in nature drawing and colouring from Franz Bauer (1758-1840), and the worth of this work would have been evident to her eye. Following her death in 1840, Pricess Elizabeth's library was sold by Messrs Sotheby and Wilkinson in London in April 1863. Dunthorne 283; Great Flower Books (1990) p.140; Nissen BBI 1855.
Miss [?J.] Smith of Adwick-Hall near Doncaster (fl. circa 1818) Studies of Flowers from Nature . London: printed by W. & S. Graves ... and sold by Miss Smith, 1818. Part Number 1 (only, of 10), 2° (375 x 265mm). Hand-coloured engraved aquatint title. 2 aquatint copper-engraved plates of 'Gentianella' and 'Fuschia coccinea' each in hand-coloured and uncoloured states, 2 text leaves, one uncoloured plate partially coloured in a light blue wash. Original printed wrappers, the upper wrapper with letterpress title within greek-key pattern border, modern cloth portfolio with gilt morocco label to upper cover (the wrappers frayed with loss at the edges and skilfully re-margined, spine neatly restored). Provenance : Princess Elizabeth of England and Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg (presentation inscription on upper wrapper); sold by Christie's, London 21 July 1976, lot 91. The dedication copy of the first part, inscribed to 'her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth', of 'a rare work with finely coloured plates' (Dunthorne). The present copy is possibly an advance prospectus issue for the dedicatee, using the plates and text of the first part bound in wrappers with a printed 'Prospectus' and manuscript note of subscription cost ('Subscription five guineas') on the lower wrapper and manuscript date of publication ('March 10 t h'). There is no part number or price inserted on the upper wrapper and the space by 'Part' is stroked through. The work, 'illustrated with excellent fine-grain aquatints' (Blunt p.256), is typically of the genre of botanical colouring books, which sprung up in the very late 18th and early 19th century, frequently written and drawn by female artists and drawing teachers, such as Clara Maria Pope (see lot 77), Mrs Withers or Mary Lawrence The format of these books was similar to that of Studies of Flowers from Nature , which was aimed at 'young Ladies and private Governesses' ('Prospectus'). Fashionable though these floral copybooks were, perhaps due in part to the royal patronage that they received, as Blunt notes, 'many of them, to judge by their rarity to-day, were either published in small editions or thrown away when they had been duly ''tinted in'' ' (pp.255-256). Princess Elizabeth of England (1770-1840) was the seventh child of George III and Queen Charlotte, and an enthusiastic amateur artist, whose patronage of this work is entirely apt: she and her mother had both taken lessons in nature drawing and colouring from Franz Bauer (1758-1840), and the worth of this work would have been evident to her eye. Following her death in 1840, Pricess Elizabeth's library was sold by Messrs Sotheby and Wilkinson in London in April 1863. Dunthorne 283; Great Flower Books (1990) p.140; Nissen BBI 1855.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
