Black Briony and Butcher's Broom, Antique Botanical Plate, Pratt, circa 1873

Printed in color in London for Frederick Warne and Co., this original antique plate is Plate 221 of Volume V of Anne Pratt's The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, circa 1873. The printed key names the Black Briony, Herb Paris, Common Asparagus and Butchers Broom. A cluster of glossy red briony berries sits at the lower left, and the broad, heart shaped leaves and small greenish flowers of the briony climb through the center of the sheet. Herb Paris is drawn at the top with a whorl of pointed leaves around a single dark purple berry. The feathery shoots of the Common Asparagus fill the right, hung with small yellow bell flowers, with a red berry, young spears and the root crown at the foot. Butcher's broom at the left shows stiff, pointed, leaf like shoots, each with a small flower at its center, and a red berry is set near the foot of the group.

The plate comes from The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain by Anne Pratt (1806 to 1893), who wrote the text and drew the plants herself. The work was published in six volumes in London by Frederick Warne and Co. of Bedford Street, Covent Garden, for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, with Scribner, Welford and Armstrong as the New York house. This sheet comes from Volume V, whose title page records 237 species in color. The color is printed, not applied by hand: the plates were printed in color by William Dickes of London, a licensee of George Baxter's color process. The plate number is printed at the upper right, and a numbered key below the image gives the English and Latin name of each plant shown.

Even age toning. Handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner. Small nicks along the left edge.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.