British Spurges, Set of 3 Antique Botanical Plates, circa 1873

This is a set of three original antique botanical plates of British spurges from Anne Pratt's The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, Plates 190, 191 and 192 of Volume V, Frederick Warne and Co., circa 1873. They are three original sheets sold together as one lot, and between them they name twelve spurges. Plate 190 names Purple Spurge, Sun Spurge, Broad Leaved Warted Spurge and Irish Spurge; the Purple Spurge is drawn across the foot of the sheet with pink stems and pinkish leaves, and the Sun Spurge fills the top with yellow green flower heads. Plate 191 names Marsh Spurge, Coral Like Hairy Spurge, Leafy Branched Spurge and Cypress Spurge; it is drawn almost entirely in greens, with the narrow, needle like leaves of the Cypress Spurge at the lower left. Plate 192 names Sea Spurge, Portland Spurge, Petty Spurge and Dwarf Spurge; the Portland Spurge at the lower left has reddish brown leaves, and fine roots are drawn at the foot of the Petty Spurge.

The plates come 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. These sheets come 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. Each sheet carries its plate number at the upper right and a numbered key below the image giving the English and Latin name of every plant shown.

Uneven toning, browner at the edges. Marked handling soiling along the edges of all three sheets. Light foxing on two sheets, a small stain in the lower margin of Plate 192. Slight corner wear, a nick at the left edge of Plate 190.

These are original antique plates, not modern reproductions. This item is sold unframed.