Abstract
THE series of volumes known as “English Botany” was begun in 1790 by James Sowerby, the botanic artist, who engaged Dr. James Edward Smith, the possessor of the Linnean collections and founder of the Linnean Society, to describe the plants depicted by him. At first the name of the draughtsman only appeared on the title-page, but in 1795 a preface to the fourth volume by Smith acknowledged his authorship, and he was much annoyed in after years by the flippancy with which everybody quotes “Sowerby,” whom they know merely as the delineator of these plates, without adverting to the information of the work, or the name of the author. The artist and those who followed him preserved the original drawings of the phanerogams and vascular cryptogams, which ultimately came into the possession of the trustees of the British Museum, and are now in the department of botany. Here are to be found the drawings, with impressions from the original plates, and also from the third recast edition, laid down side by side on the same sheets. The drawings (which had been submitted to Smith for his criticism and his text which accompanied them) bear many notes and directions to the engraver, which are of great interest as showing not only the state of botany at the time, but mentioning the numerous contributors of plants to the work and its supplement. Mr. Garry has done excellent service in the laborious task of transcribing and editing these notes, which can now be read by those who have not seen the originals themselves. Turning over these pages, the writer is reminded of the days when, more than thirty years ago, he first made acquaintance with the drawings in the old rooms of the department at Bloomsbury, recalling the charm they possess for all who care for the history of the native plants of Great Britain.
Notes on the Drawings for Sowerby's "English Botany."
By F. N. A. Garry. Reprinted from the Journal of Botany, 1904–5. Pp. 276. (London: West, Newman and Co., 1905.) Price 6s.
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J., B. Notes on the Drawings for Sowerby's “English Botany” . Nature 72, 556 (1905). https://doi.org/10.1038/072556a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/072556a0