FINE ANTIQUE PRINTS

Robert John Thornton’s The Temple of Flora, is the most famous English botanical plate book ever produced. Thornton trained as a physician, but when he inherited his family’s fortune, he decided to leave his mark on the world by creating an ambitious series of botanical publications dedicated to the work of the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus. Linnaeus had revolutionized the world of science in 1735 by developing an entirely new classification system for plants and animals. The golden age of plant illustration followed his discoveries. Thornton’s botanical work was to be a “pictorial celebration” including magnificent images, poetry and verse, of the Linnaean botanical system.

The subjects of the flower paintings and the subsequent engravings were exotic specimens placed in romanticized settings replete with symbolism. Thornton hired the finest aquatint artists, engravers and colorists and opened an art gallery to display the original works. He intended to produce 70 different images but Thornton was not a very successful marketer and the cost of producing the wildly expensive work brought him to the edge of financial ruin. He ended by publishing a series of only 28 undeniably spectacular prints. Each is a distinctive and evocative image very highly valued by print collectors. Good, crisp impressions with well preserved original coloring, such as this one, are very rare.

Ronald King writes: “Although it was not introduced into Europe until the earlier part of the 18th century, The American Cowslip had by Thornton’s time become a firm favourite among gardeners in England. The influx of many other flowering plants which were brought in during the 19th century has since that time provided stiff competition, but it continues to be grown and several fine garden varieties have been developed from the wild plant. Rarely more than 16 inches high, its comparatively small size makes it a useful plant in the rock garden as well as in the border… In the picture it is shown growing on cliffs by the sea, a situation which affords a fine background against which to show off the virtues of the plant,… Peter Henderson painted the picture, which was engraved by Warner in aquatint, stipple and line engraving.”

Reference: King, Ronald. The Temple of Flora. New York Graphic Society, Boston, 1981, p 100.

23.5 x 18.5 inches sheet.
Negligible paper toning. One very small spot in outer left margin.