The Beauties of Flora: with botanic and poetic illustrations

Very good copy of a rare privately printed botanical book by a Victorian woman artist

Complete with hand-coloured title and 20 hand-coloured botanical plates, all finely lithographed by Dean and Monday of 40 Threadneedle Street, London.

All plates drawn by talented and mysterious botanical artist E.E. Gleadall.

The flowers include exotic camellias, rhododendron, lady's slipper orchid, passionflower, coral tree, tiger lily, flowering cactus and waterlilies, as well as roses, geraniums, daffodils, pansies and heather.

Miss Eliza Eve Gleadall (1806-1887) was headmistress of the ladies seminary at Heath Old Hall near Wakefield. Here she taught English grammar, French, Italian, music, history, geography, and botanical illustration. She married Benjamin Williamson of Leeds in 1838 and retired from teaching and botanical art to bring up her seven children. Widowed in 1854, she launched another ladies seminary in Harrogate and ran it until her death in 1887. Her only book Beauties of Flora is a guide to flower painting and includes botanical illustrations, poetry and definitions from the language of flowers, and a detailed guide to colouring flowers. Such guides to flower painting were popular in the first half of the nineteenth century, and the author recommends it as a "chaste recreation" for young ladies.

The book was privately printed at Heath Hall, Wakefield, in 1834 and limited to just 115 copies (the list of subscribers included many aristocrats, several clergymen and 71 women). One copy was for Samuel Curtis, the publisher of the Botanical Magazine, who gave his "judicious opinion and friendly attention to the style and execution of the plates."

Bound in contemporary watermarked silk with gilt title "Beauty of Flora" on front board, slight wrinkling and rubbing to silk boards, spine professionally rebacked at some time. All botanical plates bright and clean with vibrant hand colour.

Enigmatic dedication in ink on front endpaper reads "J.D. In memory of the Immortal Hour, February 9th 1932, from Dolly."