Edwards, John

Stipple-engraved and mezzotint decorative allegorical title with oval paper lettering slip pasted in place and manuscript "imprint" dated 2 January 1798. Illustration: 79 fine hand-colored engraved plates by Edwards.

Folio (19 1/8 x 13 1/4 in.; 485 x 337 mm). Binding: Modern stained calf gilt, spine elaborately gilt with morocco gilt lettering-piece, covers with Greek-key gilt borders.



Title-page foxed and with deep vertical creases on left side, plates generally clean and bright. Minimal wear to binding.

Dunthorne 105; Great Flower Books, p. 93; Henrey III.673; Nissen 579; An Oak Spring Flora 64

Title-page foxed and with deep vertical creases on left side, plates generally clean and bright. Minimal wear to binding.
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A fine copy of a "superb and very rare work by a great artist, whose craftsmanship is equal to the best of the 18th century" (Dunthorne).

The excellent plates fall into two main categories. There are 12 plates of "designs" with floral themes and 67 botanical plates, either single sprays or small bouquets, often tied with ribbon. Of these later botanical plates, 29 show the subjects within ovals defined by a bodycolor border and 35 have a simple border. The three largest plates have no borders and include the work's masterpiece, plate 69, "Eastern Poppy."

Edwards lived in London until about 1778 when he moved to Surrey, exhibiting at the Society of Artists, of which he was a member, and at the Royal Academy. In addition to the fine arts, he also provided designs for textiles, particularly cotton calico. Between 1796 and 1770 he published Edwards' British Herbal in monthly parts, with text garnered from the works of contemporary botanists and 100 fine handcolored engraved plates from his own designs. The plates already show that his interests lay not so much in the accurate depiction of botanical specimens as the design possibilities of beautiful flowers. The work was clearly a success and was reissued in 1770 as The British Herbal and again in 1775 as A Select Collection of One Hundred Plates. The present work, his masterpiece, was his next publishing venture. Working from the imprint dates of the plates, it is clear that he began to publish designs for the work in 1783, with plates being completed periodically through the 1780s and well into the following decade. Unlike his previous work, all the plates are designed, etched, and colored by Edwards himself, a process which gave him complete control over the publication.