Description
Description of William Curtis's The Botanical Magazine
These beautiful, original hand-colored engravings by William Curtis are from his work entitled Botanical Magazine. Curtis lived in London and worked as a pharmacist but his interest in the natural world, particularly plants and insects, soon overtook his life. In 1787 his Botanical Magazine was first published. He continued with the work until his death in 1799, producing volumes 1-14. John Sims took over the publication after Curtis's death from 1801-1807 and produced volumes 15-26. The well-known Sydenham Edwards was the principle artist on the work for both publishers (Edwards later produced The Botanical Register 1815-1847). It is becoming harder and harder to find the top images from this series, thus the value of each of these prints is rapidly increasing from year to year. Curtis botanicals make for marvelous, decorative pieces when framed and hung on a wall. They are on fine woven paper that measures 9" by 5 1/2" and 9" by 12" for fold-out prints.