1819 Curtis Botanical – Small-Flowered Sisyrinchium – Blue-Eyed Grass

A beautiful antique engraving which was an illustration to “Curtis’s Botanical Magazine”, dated December 1, 1819 (see scan). The interesting history of this famous and important publication is copied below The image is of the Sisyrinchium Micranthum, which had only been found in Peru (Plate 2116) – see text and below Good condition. Fine original hand-coloring. Page size 6 x 9 inches. A fine addition to any botanical collection, including the interesting associated text. Note: I am listing a small collection of these beautiful botanicals with a starting price of $0.99. Multiple buys can be combined for mailing at no extra cost Curtis’s Botanical Magazine From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Curtis’s Botanical Magazine The Botanical Magazine , 1845 title page First issue 1 February 1787 ISSN 1355-4905 The Botanical Magazine ; or Flower-Garden Displayed , is an illustrated publication which began in 1787. [1] The longest running botanical magazine, it is widely referred to by the subsequent name Curtis’s Botanical Magazine . Each of the issues contains a description, in formal yet accessible language, and is renowned for featuring the work of two centuries of botanical illustrators . Many plants received their first publication on the pages, and the description given was enhanced by the keenly detailed illustrations. Contents 1 History and profile 2 See also 3 References 4 Bibliography 5 External links The first issue, published on 1 February 1787, [2] was begun by William Curtis , as both an illustrated gardening and botanical journal. Curtis was an apothecary and botanist who held a position at Kew Gardens , who had published the highly praised (but poorly sold) Flora Londinensis a few years before. The publication familiarized its readers with ornamental and exotic plants, which it presented in octavo format. Artists who had previously given over their flower paintings to an affluent audience, now saw their work published in a format accessible by a wider one. The illustrations were initially hand-coloured prints, taken from copper engravings and intended to complement the text. Identification by a general reader was given in exploded details, some of which were given as a section. This was accompanied by a page or two of text describing the plants properties, history, growth characteristics, and some common names for the species. Iris persica (Sowerby) The first volume’s illustrations were mostly by Sydenham Edwards . A dispute with the editors saw his departure to start the rival The Botanical Register . The credit for the first plate ( Iris persica ) goes to James Sowerby , as did a dozen of Edwards contributions. The first thirty volumes used copper engraving to provide the plates, the hand colouring of these was performed by up to thirty people. An issue might have a circulation of 3000 copies, with 3 plates in each. As costs of production rose, and demand increased, results would be variable within a run. The later use of machine colouring would provide uniformity to the artists work, although the process could not give the same detail for many years. The magazine has been considered to be the premier journal for early botanical illustration. Dianthus barbatus Plate 207 (1793) When Curtis died, having completed 13 volumes (1787–1800), his friend John Sims became editor between 1801 and 1807 (Volumes 15–26) and changed the name. William Hooker was the editor from 1826, bringing to it his experience as a botanist, and as author of the rival magazine, Exotic Botany . W. J. Hooker brought the artist Walter Hood Fitch to the magazine, this artist became the magazines principal artist for forty years. Joseph Dalton Hooker followed his father, becoming the Director of Kew Gardens in 1865, and editor of its magazine. Fitch resigned from the magazine in 1877 following a dispute with Hooker—for whom Fitch had been preparing illustrations for several books—and Hooker’s daughter Harriet Anne Hooker Thiselton-Dyer stepped in. [3] [4] She rendered almost 100 illustrations for publication during the period 1878–1880, helping to keep the magazine viable until the next principal artist, Matilda Smith took over as lead illustrator. [5] Like Thiselton-Dyer, Smith was brought to the magazine by Hooker, who was her cousin. Between 1878 and 1923 Smith drew over 2,300 plates for Curtis’s. Her exceptional contribution was to see her become the first botanic artist of Kew, and she was later made an associate of the Linnean Society —the second woman to have achieved this. The scientific value of the figures and illustration, a source of pride and notability for the magazine, required the careful training of the illustrators. The artist worked closely with the botanist to depict a specimen, the use of exploded details surrounding the depiction gave the volumes practical appeal to botanists, horticulturalists, and gardeners. The magazine is the greatest serial of botanical illustration yet produced, the consistent quality of the journal’s plates and authority make this the most widely cited work of its kind. Other 19th century artists who contributed largely to the magazine include Augusta Innes Withers and Anne Henslow Barnard , Joseph Dalton Hooker’s sister-in-law, who was active in the period 1879–1894. [6] The hand-coloured plates were a labor-intensive process, but this tradition was continued by another principal illustrator, Lilian Snelling (1879–1972), from 1921 until 1948. [7] A photomechanical process was implemented after this time. In 1953, Nellie Roberts , began illustration, should completed over 5,000 images of orchids. [7] It has been published continuously ever since, with a change of name to The Kew Magazine from 1984 to 1994. In 1995 the name reverted to that of the widely cited, Curtis’s Botanical Magazine . It continues to be published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as a publication for those interested in horticulture, ecology or botanical illustration. The standard form of abbreviation is Curtis’s Bot. Mag. or Botanical Magazine in the citation of botanical literature. Lychnis fulgens is a red-flowered catchfly that is native to Siberia, Manchuria, Korea and Japan. It is a sparsely white-hairy, tufted perennial that typically grows in a clump to 12-24” tall on stems clad with sessile, ovate-lanceolate, medium to dark green leaves (to 3″ long). Type: Herbaceous perennial Common Name: catchfly Native Range: Eastern Russia, China, Korea, … Family: Caryophyllaceae Sisyrinchium 20 languages Article Talk Read Edit View history Tools From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Not to be confused with Sisyrinchium Mill., illegitimate homonym, a synonym of Moraea Sisyrinchium Sisyrinchium bermudiana L. ( type species ) Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Clade : Tracheophytes Clade : Angiosperms Clade : Monocots Order: Asparagales Family: Iridaceae Subfamily: Iridoideae Tribe: Sisyrinchieae Genus: Sisyrinchium L. Species Main article: List of Sisyrinchium species Synonyms [1] Bermudiana Mill. Hydastylus Dryand. ex Salisb. Souza Vell. Paneguia Raf. Pogadelpha Raf. Echthronema Herb. Eriphilema Herb. Glumosia Herb. Oreolirion E.P.Bicknell Sisyrinchium is a large genus of annual to perennial flowering plant in the family Iridaceae . Native to the New World , the species are known as blue-eyed grasses and, though not true grasses are monocots . [2] Several species in the eastern United States are threatened or endangered.