Ramsons and Vernal Squill, Antique British Botanical Plate, circa 1873

Printed in color in London for Frederick Warne and Co., this original antique plate is Plate 226 of Volume V of Anne Pratt's The Flowering Plants, Grasses, Sedges, and Ferns of Great Britain, circa 1873, showing ramsons and three squills. The printed key names Broad Leaved Garlic or Ramsons, Vernal Squill, Twin Leaved Squill and Autumnal Squill. Ramsons opens its round head of white star flowers at the top center of the sheet, beside a broad, lance shaped leaf. The squills stand around it: the Vernal Squill at the left with pale pinkish mauve flowers and blue eyes above a tuft of narrow leaves, the Twin Leaved Squill at the center right in clear sky blue above two broad leaves, and the Autumnal Squill at the right in dusty rose. The bulbs of the three squills are drawn at the foot of the sheet.

The plate comes 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. This sheet comes 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. The plate number is printed at the upper right, and a numbered key below the image gives the English and Latin name of each plant shown.

Even age toning. Marked handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. A few small foxing spots. Slight wear at the bottom right and top left corners. Small nicks along the bottom edge.

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