Plate I E.J. Lowe. Natural History of Ferns... London, 1872. $45.00

Plate I. Polyphodium Paradiseae.

This lifelike chromolithographed illustration was included in E.J. Lowe's Natural History of British and Exotic Ferns, published in London in 1872. The octavo sized volume was dedicated to the Duke of Newcastle, "a nobleman universally beloved for his public and private works..."  It contains beautiful colored plates of different types of ferns including, Gymnogramma, Nothochlaena, Niphobelus and Polypodium.  Victorians cultivated ferns with a passion, creating elaborate glass houses (ferneries) for their display. Volumes describing these plants and their propagation were very popular at the end of the nineteenth century. Affordable and decorative, these prints look wonderful massed together in groupings.

10 x 6 3/4 inches sheet
Chromolithograph
Two light foxing marks and tack hole at bottom.

With accompanying text.