Set of 3 Antique Horsetail Prints, Equisetum palustre and limosum, 1806-1809

This is an original set of 3 antique hand-colored copper engravings of horsetails, sold together, from Christian Schkuhr's survey of the ferns and fern allies printed at Wittenberg between 1806 and 1809. The marsh horsetail, its variety and the smooth horsetail, Tab. 169 to 171, a continuous run of three plates. The 3 sheets are Equisetum palustre, Equisetum palustre, varietas and Equisetum limosum. They are the same size, printed from the same press and colored by the same hand, so they frame and hang as one group.

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.

This is an engraving on copper with original hand coloring, printed on the bluish paper that the first impressions of the work were issued on. The engraved line carries the structure and the watercolor carries the color, applied by hand so that no two copies of the plate are quite alike. 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. Marked handling soiling along the edges of all three sheets. Foxing over much of the margin of all three sheets. Slight wear at the corners of one of the three sheets.

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