Description
Description of Dr. Robert J. Thornton's Temple of Flora
These famous botanical prints are from Dr. Robert J. Thornton's work entitled Temple of Flora. After his parents and older brother died, Thornton was left with a considerable inheritance. He decided to pursue his love of natural history and took on this ambitious project. He hired well-known artists, including Peter Henderson, Philip Reinagle, and Sydenham Edwards, to ensure a masterpiece was to be created. The final project was an extravagant folio-sized volume with a price to match. While the work was seen as an artist success, it did not sell well due to lean times for all but the wealthiest. In a scheme designed to generate finances to continue the work, Thornton published ~600 books of the work in this smaller edition differing only in size, not in quality. With the permission of Parliament, he sold tickets to a lottery in which the top prize was to be the original paintings of the prints and lower prizes consisting of books and individual plates of this size. Sadly, the lottery was not a success and the doctor was not able to see his project through to completion of the grand plans for a large series. Though it did not make Thornton rich in his day, the work is far from being forgotten. It is today considered one of the most distinguished English botanical works. They were produced using a combination of aquatint, mezzotint, stipple, and line engraving followed by original hand finished color; they are on fine, woven paper that measures ~ 12" by 14 1/2".