Nine Speedwells Including Germander, Antique Pratt Flower Plate, circa 1873

Printed in color in London for Frederick Warne and Co., this original antique plate from Anne Pratt's British flora shows nine British speedwells on one sheet, among them the germander speedwell of the spring hedge bank. The vivid blue flowers of Veronica chamaedrys open at the upper left with their white centers, and a single large flower of Buxbaum's speedwell sits in deep blue at the right. Pale lilac spikes rise at the top of the sheet, and trailing shoots with rounded scalloped leaves run across the lower half, the ivy leaved species drawn with its small flowers and seed capsules.

The sheet is a plate from Volume IV of Anne Pratt's The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, published by Frederick Warne and Co. of London. Pratt wrote the text and drew the plants herself, and the plates were printed in color rather than painted by hand, which is what allowed a thorough illustrated flora to be sold at a price an ordinary reader could meet.

A plate from this flora carries its period in every line: the close observation, the crowded but orderly arrangement, the soft printed color laid over careful outline. It sits as comfortably in a modern interior as in a Victorian one, and it has the advantage over a single flower study of giving several related plants together, which makes it rewarding to look at more than once.

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 left and bottom right corners.

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