Lily of the Valley and Solomon's Seal, Antique Botanical Plate, circa 1873

An original antique color plate from Anne Pratt's The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, Plate 222 of Volume V, showing lily of the valley and three British Solomon's seals. The caption names Lily of the Valley, Narrow-Leaved Solomon's Seal, Common Solomon's Seal and Angular Solomon's Seal. It was published in London by Frederick Warne and Co. about 1873.

Lily of the valley hangs its row of small white bells right of center against a broad ribbed leaf, and its stem rises from a pink flushed sheath at the foot of the sheet. The Solomon's seals arch across the page with their ribbed leaves, carrying small tubular flowers that hang beneath the stems, greenish white on the plant at the left and pale yellow on the narrow leaved stem in the middle, where the leaves are long and slender. The angular Solomon's seal is drawn at the right with broad leaves and a cut stem. The palette is almost entirely green, white and pale yellow.

This plate belongs to The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, the six volume flora that Anne Pratt, 1806 to 1893, wrote and illustrated herself. It was published 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. The plates were printed in color by William Dickes of London, a licensee of George Baxter's color process. This sheet comes from Volume V, whose title page records 237 species in color.

Even age toning. Handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. A small pale stain beside the caption and a few faint spots. Slight wear at the bottom right corner.

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