The Volumes:
English Botany was an epic botanical publication comprising 36 volumes, issued in 267 monthly parts between 1790 and 1814. Conceived, illustrated, edited, and published by James Sowerby, the work featured technical descriptions primarily provided by Sir James Edward Smith, founder of the Linnean Society. The publication, commonly known as Sowerby’s Botany, became the most comprehensive illustrated flora of Great Britain at the time, renowned for its detailed hand-coloured engravings and accessible commentary. The complete First Edition comprises 2,592 hand-coloured, finely detailed, copper-plate engravings, drawn & engraved largely by Sowerby, including 3 fold-outs, each with a single page of text. The work is comprehensively indexed with each of the 36 volumes having its own specific set. In September 1814, Sowerby published a comprehensive, 42 page, three-part final index comprising; two indexes with Latin nomenclature (systematical and alphabetical) and an index of the common English names.

The Artist:
James Sowerby was born in Lambeth, London, his parents were named John and Arabella. Having decided to become a painter of flowers his first venture was with William Curtis, whose Flora Londinensis he illustrated. Sowerby studied art at the Royal Academy and took an apprenticeship with Richard Wright. He married Anne Brettingham De Carle and they were to have four daughters and three sons: James De Carle Sowerby (1787–1871), George Brettingham Sowerby I (1788–1854) and Charles Edward Sowerby (1795–1842), the Sowerby family of naturalists.[3] His sons and theirs were to contribute and continue the enormous volumes he was to begin and the Sowerby name was to remain associated with illustration of natural history. 

The Technique:
Line-engraving or Copperplate engraving is a highly exacting & labor-intensive process for intaglio printmaking.

The original drawing is cut into the surface of a copper plate with a hand-held sharp steel point or burin, with shading created by many fine cut lines, or hatching. Before printing takes place, the plate is heated, covered with ink. The warm ink seeps into the finest of depressions and fills the lines and textures of the drawing. The rest of the plate is cleaned off. The copper plate is now pressed with a printing press on to moistened paper which soaks up the ink from the depressions in the plate. The copperplate-engraving technique is very exacting, time-consuming and exhausting for the engraver, who needs a lot of strength for it.

Every part of these prints was made by hand: Hand painted from original plant specimens, drawn & engraved into polished Copper plates by hand with a steel burin, the copper was hand-mined, smelted & rolled, typically these were printed onto handmade cotton rag paper, hand cranked through an elaborate handmade etching press, inked & colored with hand-ground pigments, individually by hand, & they were usually hand sewn into handmade leather-bound books.

Condition:
Good condition, age-toning to the paper as one typically finds with these, minor antiquarian character. Hand-coloring remains bright & vivid. Note, some of these have a note in contemporary sepia ink in a graceful, cursive hand, regarding what looks like the colloquial names of these seaweeds... very nicely authentic & unique history) Please peruse the photos.

These prints are very old & may have minor imperfections expected with age, such as some typical age-toning of the paper, oxidation of the old original watercolors, spots, text-offsetting, artifacts from having been bound into a book, etc. Please examine the photos & details carefully.

Text Page(s):
This one comes without original page(s) of text. Included in the photos is a scan of a title-page from an edition of this work, it's not part of the listing.

Size: 8-1/2 x 5-1/2 inches approximately.

Combined Shipping:
Yes! Multiple prints can be combine into one Priority Mail flat-rate envelope or package. Larger prints may need to be shipped in tube. eBay should auto-combine your items if you put all of your selections into your shopping cart & check out all together as one order.

If you purchase them individually, eBay charges shipping on each, which I then will refund after.

If you're assessed multiple shipping charges for one combined package, I will endeavor to refund any overage asap.

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