Dr. Robert John Thornton (1768?-1837) (editor)
Botanical Prints
from The Temple of Flora, or Garden of the Botanist, Poet, Painter, and Philosopher
Dr. Robert John Thornton, London: 1812
Stipple, mezzotint or aquatint, some partially printed in colors, finished by hand and some heightened with gum arabic
$1,000 to $1,500 each
Dr. Robert Thornton Botanicals
from The Temple of Flora, 1812
from The Temple of Flora, 1812
Click on image to view enlargement, detail and more information.
The Blue Egyptian |
The Pontic Rhododendron |
The Sacred Egyptian Bean |
The Night-Blowing Cereus |
Botanical images from the quarto edition of Dr. Robert Thornton’s The Temple of Flora, considered the greatest ever British botanical sets. The Temple of Flora consists of 28 botanical plates, as well as engraved title pages and allegorical prints, originally published as the third section of an extensive and ambitious botanical publication titled New Illustration of the Sexual System of Linnaeus. This sumptuous work consisting of folio size prints, issued by subscription from 1799 to 1807. In accordance with Thornton’s concept, The Temple of Flora departed from previous botanical illustrations in showing the flowers in landscape settings with narrative underpinnings, giving them an overall slightly surreal look. For example, in Thornton’s words, “The clouds are disturbed, and every thing looks wild and sombre about the dragon ARUM, a plant equally poisonous as fetid.”
Thornton retained some of the best artists of the day to compose the various images, as well as the best engravers to translate their work into print. Most of the images were painted by Peter Henderson and Philip Reinagle (1749-1833), with two by Abraham Pether (1756-1812), who also rendered the moonlight in Reinagle’s Night-blowing Cereus, one of the best-known images from the set. The remaining two plates were painted by Sydenham Edwards and Thornton himself, who created the famous plate of Roses. The engravers were a similarly distinguished group, including mezzotint artists Ward, Earlom and Dunkarton, and aquatint etchers J.C. Stadler and Sutherland. Some of the plates are executed in one medium, some in a combination of the two. They were printed in basic colors and then enhanced with hand-coloring.
Robert John Thornton began his career as a doctor. In 1797, he opened a successful practice in London. Meanwhile, he had become deeply interested in botany under the influence of Thomas Martyn’s lectures and the writings of Linnaeus. In 1797, he also began advertising for subscribers to his planned publishing venture titled New Illustration of the Sexual System of Linnaeus. In 1812, Thornton had the set re-engraved on a small scale for a quarto edition, with some of the compositions slightly altered. Copies of this smaller formatted edition may have been given as prizes during the “Royal Botanic Lottery” under the patronage of the Prince Regent. Thornton organized the lottery when faced with bankruptcy after sales of the folio publication failed to recoup his investment, having spared no expense in its production. The lottery apparently failed to salvage his finances, and he died almost penniless. The original paintings, also included in the lottery have now mostly vanished. Nevertheless, the book remains admired as one of the greatest florilegia every published, not for its contribution to science, but for its outstanding aesthetic and imaginative qualities.
References:
Blunt, Wilfred, rev. by Stearn, William T. The Art of Botanical Illustration. Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors Club, 1994. pp. 236-242.
Dunthorne, Gordon. Flower and Fruit Prints of the 18th and Early 19th Centuries. Their History, Makers and Uses, with a Catalogue Raisonne of the Works in Which They are Found. Washington, D.C.: Published by the Author, 1938. 302.
Grigson, Geoffrey and Buchanan, Handasyde. Thornton’s Temple of Flora. London: 1951.
Sitwell, Sacheverell. Great Flower Books, 1700-1900. New York: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1990. p. 77.
Stafleu, Frans A. and Richard S.Cowan. Taxonomic Literature. Utrecht: 1967. 2nd ed., Utrecht: 1976-1988. Tl2 14.283.