1828 LINDLEY POMOLOGY Hand-Colored Fruit Engraving, Pl. 41, PEAR

Description: Rare 1828 Hand-Colored Copperplate Stipple Engraving from: POMOLOGIA BRITANNICA OR, FIGURES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MOST IMPORTANT VARIETIES OF FRUIT CULTIVATED IN GREAT BRITAIN. THE LONG-STALKED BLANQUET PEAR. Pl. 41. Originally from THE POMOLOGICAL MAGAZINE (1828-30), and then reissued as a 3-volume work in 1841 as Lindley's POMOLOGIA BRITANNICA, comes this gorgeous botanical plate, an original hand-colored copperplate stipple-engraving. The Artist:Augusta Hanna Elizabeth Innes Withers (née Baker; 1792, Gloucestershire – 1877, London), was an English natural history illustrator, known for her exquisite illustrating of John Lindley's Pomological Magazine and her collaboration with Sarah Drake on the monumental Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala by James Bateman. She was appointed "Flower Painter in Ordinary" to Queen Adelaide and later to Queen Victoria. She also produced illustrations for Benjamin Maund's Botanis, the Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London, the Illustrated Bouquet (1857-1863) and Curtis's Botanical Magazine.Besides giving painting classes, she was active as a painter from before 1827 until 1865, exhibiting from 1829 to 1846 at the Royal Academy, the Society of British Artists and the New Watercolour Society as well as the Society of Female Artists in 1857 and 1858, and where she was a founder member. Her drawings are stored at the Natural History Museum, London, at the Royal Horticultural Society, and at the Fitzwilliam Museum of the University of Cambridge. From the photos I've seen of her original paintings for some of her plates, she was a stunningly astute painter of fruit & flowers, with a unique ability at rendering these notoriously difficult to draw botanical & pomological species, she had a unique, impeccable, consistent skill, talent & eye. The Author:John Lindley, an English horticulturist, was born Feb. 5, 1799. Son of a seed-merchant, Lindley was largely a self-taught botanist, working for Sir Joseph Banks as a young man, writing a few short monographs, joining the Linnean Society of London, and becoming a secretary to the Horticultural Society by 1822. He must have attracted favorable attention, for in 1829, he was appointed professor of botany at University College in London, which was only 3 years old at the time, and he held this position for 31 years. Lindley was a tireless botanist, editing numerous journals and serving on the staff of several botanical gardens, writing encyclopedia entries, and publishing a number of books on general botany, fossil plants, and orchids. He also championed a "natural system" for plants, opposing the artificial sexual system of Linnaeus; Lindley’s natural system, although preferable to Linnaean taxonomy on principle, was not especially successful. The Volumes: Lindley’s Pomologia Britannica, an illustrated guide to edible fruit originally appeared as a serial, The Pomological Magazine (1828-30), and then was reissued as a 3-volume work in 1841.It was published in three volumes with 152 very fine hand colored plates of fruit, each plate having its own leaf of descriptive text. Plates from these volumes have become very scarce. A full set of the volumes is offered for US$ 7,500.00. The Plate:This beautiful fruit print of the Long-stalked blanket pear (Said to be Pyrus communis) is gorgeously rendered in this very fine line-engraving, showing the many colors of the fruit, with modeling, lighting, exquisite coloring worked into the copper engraving by hand. The rendering, composition, engraving & hand-coloring are all superb.These are very limited editions, the plates very beautiful, & quite rare. I find no other copies of this plate offered anywhere.The drawing & coloring are quite stunning. It's a beautiful plate, full of the passion that the early flower painters, botanists & gardeners had for these amazing flowers, many of which were discovered in the pristine reaches of the ever-expanding euro-empires of the era & by intrepid explorers of the time.These gorgeously drawn, engraved & colored original prints were presented on their page with consistently balanced, beautiful compositions.Every part of these prints was made by hand: Hand drawn & engraved on Copper which was hand-mined, smelted & rolled, printed onto handmade cotton rag paper, inked & colored with hand-ground pigments individually by hand, & they were usually hand sewn into handmade leather-bound books. Condition:Appears to be in excellent condition for a centuries-old engraving. The hand-coloring appears to remain sharp & brilliant as the day it was painted. The creamy paper looks mildly age-toned as is often typical of bookplates this old.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, stains, artifacts & character from having been bound into a book, occasional light pencil markings on the backs or in margins, sometimes even notes by the original owner of the volumes, etc. Please examine the photos & details carefully.Text Page(s): This one comes with its original text page. A scan of the title page is included in the photos for reference, it's not part of this listing. About this gorgeous fruit:The Pear, (genus Pyrus), genus of some 20–45 trees and shrubs in the rose family (Rosaceae), including the common pear (Pyrus communis).One of the most important fruit trees in the world, the common pear is cultivated in all temperate-zone countries of both hemispheres. The fruit is commonly eaten fresh or is canned. It is also used to produce perry, an alcoholic beverage. Several species, such as the Callery pear (P. calleryana), are grown as ornamentals.The common pear is probably of European origin and has been cultivated since ancient times. The pear was introduced into the New World by Europeans as soon as the colonies were established. Early Spanish missionaries carried the fruit to Mexico and California. Size: 9-1/2 x 5-1/2" inches approximately.Shipping: Multiple prints combine into one USPS Flat-Rate envelope. If you're assessed multiple shipping for one combined package, we'll endeavor to refund any overage asap. Thanks for Visiting!

Price: 29.5 USD

Location: Great Barrington, Massachusetts

End Time: 2024-09-07T01:05:36.000Z

Shipping Cost: 8.95 USD