Clive A. Burden LTD. Rare Maps, Antique Atlases, Books and Decorative Prints

The Mapping of North America

Mr. Philip D. Burden​
P.O. Box 863,
Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks HP6 9HD,
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel: +44 (0) 1494 76 33 13
Email: enquiries@caburden.com

Robert John Thornton’s ‘Temple of Flora’ is undoubtedly the most famous English botanical plate book ever produced. It was first issued in parts between the years 1799 and 1807 then as a book in 1807 before the famous lottery edition in 1811. The work was intended as a pictorial celebration of the sexual system of Linnaeus and was accompanied by prose and verse. Thornton (1768-1837) employed the finest artists, engravers, printers and colourists in its production. Its production exhausted his fortune and he turned to Parliament for permission to run a lottery to pay his debts. Each plant is in an exotic or romantic setting. Dunthorne (1938) 301; ‘Great Flower Books’ (1956) p. 77; Grigson and Buchanan (1951).
THORNTON, Robert John

Roses

Roses (decorative print)
London, 1799-1807
19 x 14 inches, early wash coloured aquatint and mezzotint engraving, state 2, small tear repaired lower margin. The only plate by Dr. Thornton himself.
Stock number: D3287
$ 3250
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