ORIGINAL HAND-COLOURED COPPER ENGRAVING - Protea globosa (Globe-leaved Protea) from CURTIS'S BOTANICAL MAGAZINE - Plate No. 878.

London, 1805. Print. Illus. by Sydenham Edwards. Very Good. Unframed. First Collected Edition Thus. 232 x 145 mm. An original hand-coloured copper engraving after Sydenham Edwards, dated 1805; an early plate from this famous work, size approx. 232 x 145 mm. The condition is very good, colours bright and fresh, slight toning, lightly marked, faint contemporary institutional library stamp (see attached image). Supplied with accompanying text, [but without mount). The quality of the illustrations in the Botanical Magazine is outstanding, both accurate and decorative, the colours vibrant. William Curtis (1746-1799) was a trained apothecary living in London, although his passion was for natural history, particularly plants and insects. He maintained a large well-stocked garden and began the publication of the Botanical Magazine in February 1787, which has gone on to become the most famous and influential botanical publication of its type; it is still published today, making it the longest running scientific periodical of all time. Curtis edited the first 13 volumes, and was then succeeded by John Simms (1800-1826), William Jackson Hooker (1827-1865) and Joseph Dalton Hooker (1865-1904). The fine illustrations were by many artists including Sydenham Edwards, William Graves, James Sowerby, John Curtis, William Jackson Hooker, W. H. Fitch, J. N. Fitch, Matilda Smith, Lillian Snelling and Stella Rose Craig. The plates were hand-coloured up to 1948, all being copper engravings to around 1840, and then stone or zinc lithography until the introduction of color printing in 1948. References: Blunt;The Art of Botanical Illustration, Great Flower Books pp 156 - 157, Nissen BPI 2350, Staflue 1290..