Original Antique Hand-Colored Fern Engraving, Asplenium pycnocarpon, 1806-1809

An original antique botanical engraving of Asplenium pycnocarpon, hand-colored on bluish paper, plate 69 from Christian Schkuhr's study of the ferns and their allies, Wittenberg, 1806 to 1809. The spleenworts are the small rock and wall ferns, and Schkuhr figures them more closely than any earlier German author. The sheet carries 2 species, lettered Asplenium pycnocarpon and Asplenium tenerum beneath the figures, with the plate number engraved at the upper right. Beside the habit drawing Schkuhr adds the small lettered analyses he is known for, the spore cases, the scales and the sections that make the plate useful to a botanist as well as pleasant to look at.

Schkuhr published this work himself at Wittenberg, in nine instalments between 1806 and 1809, as the fern volume of his treatment of the cryptogams. He drew, engraved and colored the plates, which is unusual: most botanical authors of the period handed their drawings to a professional engraver and a coloring workshop. The volume carries 221 plates numbered to 173 with lettered supplements, and is listed at Pritzel 8205.

The sheet is a copper engraving finished in watercolor by hand, and the coloring is original to the period of publication. The wash sits over the engraved outline and varies from figure to figure in the way hand work does, with the greens laid in several strengths to separate the upper and lower surfaces of the frond. The paper carries the plate mark of the copper plate. The plate is decorative as well as scientific. Early botanical engravings of ferns have been a staple of interior decoration since the Victorian fern craze, and an original sheet of this date, hand-colored and engraved by the botanist himself, carries considerably more weight than the later reproductions that fill the market.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Handling soiling along the right edge. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners complete.

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