Dwarf Willows and Common Osier, Set of 3 Antique Botanical Plates, circa 1873

This is a set of three original antique botanical plates from Anne Pratt's The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, Plates 200, 201 and 202 of Volume V, published in London by Frederick Warne and Co. about 1873. They are three original sheets sold together as one lot, and the set is never split. The three plates run consecutively and are all given to British willows, osiers and sallows. Plate 200 names Little Tree Willow, Don's Willow, Dwarf Silky Willow and Ambiguous Willow. Plate 201 names Reticulated Willow, Downy Mountain Willow, Common Osier and Auricled Osier. Plate 202 names Silky Leaved Osier, Long Leaved Sallow, Ferruginous Sallow and Common Sallow.

Each sheet is built from cut willow twigs set side by side, with their leaves and catkins drawn in color and small outline studies of the flower parts placed in the margins beside them. On Plate 200 the narrow leaved twigs carry pale green catkins, while the dwarf silky willow at the lower right has golden yellow catkins on a brown stem. Plate 201 sets the rounded, net veined leaves of the reticulated willow at the left against a long glossy leaf at the right, with fluffy white, pink and yellow tipped catkins between them and a rooted stem at the foot. Plate 202 shows long pointed leaves, cut stems with pale ends, and catkins ranging from silvery white to green, one of them tinged with purple.

The plates come from The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, published in London by Frederick Warne and Co. of Bedford Street, Covent Garden, and carrying the name of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Anne Pratt, 1806 to 1893, wrote the text and drew the plants herself. The work runs to six volumes, and the title page of Volume V, from which these sheets come, records 237 species in color and names Scribner, Welford and Armstrong as the New York house. The plates were printed in color by William Dickes of London, a licensee of George Baxter's color process.

Even age toning. Handling soiling along the edges of all three sheets. Light foxing in the margins. Small nicks at the foot of Plates 200 and 202. Brown marks and two ring stains in the right margin of Plate 201. Slight corner wear.

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