Notes

Abstract

WE are informed that Kew has recently acquired by purchase from Mr. F. Curtis, a descendant of William Curtis, the founder of the Botanical Magazine, about 1650 original drawings, chiefly of figures which appeared in that publication. They belong partly to the first series and partly to the second, from 1800 to 1826—that is to say, during the period that the magazine was edited by Dr. Sims. Many of these drawings are very beautiful, and very carefully coloured, especially those done by James Sowerby and Sydenham Edwards; but some of the finest of their work was not reproduced in the plates. The collection also includes some of the poorest work that ever appeared in the magazine. In 1815 Sydenham Edwards seceded, and worked for the rival Botanical Register; Sowerby had ceased contributing, and there seems to have been a lack of novelties for illustration. Towards the end of Dr. Sims's editorship, in 1826, the Botanical Magazine was doubtless supplanted in a great measure by the Botanical Register then conducted by the vigorous Lindley. Its circulation greatly decreased, and the impression was small; hence this series is very rare. The following year, however, Sir William Hooker became editor and speedily raised both the artistic and botanical character of the magazine. Many of the plates published during the latter half of Dr. Sims's editorship are not signed, but all the drawings are, and we learn that William Hooker, the artist of the Paradisus Londinensis, was an occasional contributor. The collection also contains a number of unpublished drawings.