Thornton - Cupid, Flora, Ceres, and Esculapius; Honouring the Bust of Linnaeus

Thornton - Cupid, Flora, Ceres, and Esculapius; Honouring the Bust of Linnaeus
This strong quarto botanical plate is from Dr. Robert Thornton’s The Temple of Flora. The plate was published by Thornton as part of the 1812 Lottery edition.

The Temple of Flora, both the folio and Lottery editions, are considered to be one of the most extraordinary botanical works. The publishing of the folio edition of this work bankrupted Dr. Thornton, and thus led him to creating the Great Botanical Lottery and the plates from the edition seen here. The Lottery was unfortunately not a success and Thornton could not continue further publication of the work. Though the work did not have financial success in its time, it remains one of the greatest botanical works ever published. Each plate was created using several printing processes including mezzotint, aquatint, engraving, etching, and stipple. The plates were printed in color and then finished by hand at the time of printing.

Thornton’s engravings featured an uncommon composition in which the subject was seen oversized in relation to the background giving the plates a theatrical presence. Temple of Flora is often considered the greatest achievement in British botanical art. Thornton employed some of the foremost artists to create the plates included Peter Charles Henderson, Philip Reinagle, Abraham Pether, and Sydenham Edwards. Richard Earlom, James Caldwall, Thomas Sutherland, and Joseph Constantine Stadler were the engravers for Temple of Flora.

Thornton's The Temple of Flora is the greatest English colour-plate flower book. "...[Thornton] inherited a competent fortune and trained as a doctor. He appears to have had considerable success in practice and was appointed both physician to the Marylebone Dispensary and lecturer in medical botany at Guy's and St. Thomas's hospitals. But quite early in his career he embarked on his...great work. What Redouté produced under the patronage of L'Héritier, Marie Antoinette, the Empress Josephine, Charles X, and the Duchesse de Berry, Thornton set out to do alone...Numerous important artists were engaged...twenty-eight paintings of flowers commissioned from Abraham Pether, known as `Moonlight Pether, ' Philip Reinagle, ...Sydenham Edwards, and Peter Henderson...The result...involved Thornton in desperate financial straits...In an attempt to extricate himself he organized the Royal Botanic Lottery, under the patronage of the Prince Regent...It is easy to raise one's eyebrows at Thornton's unworldly and injudicious approach to publishing...But he produced...one of the loveliest books in the world." (Alan Thomas, Great Books and Book Collecting, pp.142-144)


Paper Size ~ 12 1/4" by 15 1/4"

The work is in very good to excellent condition overall. There may be some very light toning or offset, mostly present to margins. There may be a few minor imperfections to be expected with age. Please review the image carefully for condition and contact with any questions.
~ 12 1/4" by 15 1/4"