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Auction archive: Lot number 67

THORNTON, ROBERT JOHN. 1768-1837.

Estimate
US$0
Price realised:
US$6,000
Auction archive: Lot number 67

THORNTON, ROBERT JOHN. 1768-1837.

Estimate
US$0
Price realised:
US$6,000
Beschreibung:

Temple of Flora, or Garden of the Botanist, Poet, Painter and Philosopher. London: Dr. Thornton, 1812. Large quarto (390 x 300 mm). 90 pp. Engraved title with vignette, engraved half title, 3 engraved allegorical plates (one hand-colored), 28 colored plates of flowering plants (including the Persian Cyclamen, not found in some copies), stipple, mezzotint or aquatint, some partially printed in colors and finished by hand, all on thick wove paper. Contemporary crimson straight grain morocco decorated in gilt and blind. Cover with some wear especially to edges and hinges (partial split at lower front hinge). First quarto edition of the Temple of Flora. "At the heart of the New Illustration was Thornton's scheme to produce a specifically British botanical publication of a magnificence to surpass all previous examples. Teams of master engravers and colorists, including Francesco Bartolozzi Richard Earlom and John Landseer used the full range of modern printing techniques to produce colored illustrations after paintings by such prominent artists as Sir William Beechey James Opie, Henry Raeburn John Russell Abraham Pether and his two favoured illustrators, Peter Henderson and Philip Reinagle" (ODNB). The twenty-eight botanical illustrations are justifiably famous for their backgrounds as much as for the botanical depictions. In the distance, one sees churches, sailing ships, the Pyramids at Giza, Indian temples, and mountainous landscapes. Despite the commercial failure of his high-risk literary venture (in which only twenty-eight of the planned seventy plates were produced), its legacy remains as one of the most celebrated and magnificent botanical books in history. Dunthorne 302; Nissen BBI 1955; Stafleu and Cowan 14, 283.

Auction archive: Lot number 67
Auction:
Datum:
6 Dec 2017
Auction house:
Bonhams London
New York 580 Madison Avenue New York NY 10022 Tel: +1 212 644 9001 Fax : +1 212 644 9009 info.us@bonhams.com
Beschreibung:

Temple of Flora, or Garden of the Botanist, Poet, Painter and Philosopher. London: Dr. Thornton, 1812. Large quarto (390 x 300 mm). 90 pp. Engraved title with vignette, engraved half title, 3 engraved allegorical plates (one hand-colored), 28 colored plates of flowering plants (including the Persian Cyclamen, not found in some copies), stipple, mezzotint or aquatint, some partially printed in colors and finished by hand, all on thick wove paper. Contemporary crimson straight grain morocco decorated in gilt and blind. Cover with some wear especially to edges and hinges (partial split at lower front hinge). First quarto edition of the Temple of Flora. "At the heart of the New Illustration was Thornton's scheme to produce a specifically British botanical publication of a magnificence to surpass all previous examples. Teams of master engravers and colorists, including Francesco Bartolozzi Richard Earlom and John Landseer used the full range of modern printing techniques to produce colored illustrations after paintings by such prominent artists as Sir William Beechey James Opie, Henry Raeburn John Russell Abraham Pether and his two favoured illustrators, Peter Henderson and Philip Reinagle" (ODNB). The twenty-eight botanical illustrations are justifiably famous for their backgrounds as much as for the botanical depictions. In the distance, one sees churches, sailing ships, the Pyramids at Giza, Indian temples, and mountainous landscapes. Despite the commercial failure of his high-risk literary venture (in which only twenty-eight of the planned seventy plates were produced), its legacy remains as one of the most celebrated and magnificent botanical books in history. Dunthorne 302; Nissen BBI 1955; Stafleu and Cowan 14, 283.

Auction archive: Lot number 67
Auction:
Datum:
6 Dec 2017
Auction house:
Bonhams London
New York 580 Madison Avenue New York NY 10022 Tel: +1 212 644 9001 Fax : +1 212 644 9009 info.us@bonhams.com
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