The Library of Henry Rogers Broughton, 2nd Baron Fairhaven Part I

Margaret Meen [Exotic plates from the Royal Gardens at Kew]. London, 1790-1793 FIRST EDITION, large folio (580 x 465mm.), engraved dedication, 8 fine hand-coloured etched and aquatint plates, near contemporary half sheep, some spotting, one plate creased One of the great rarities of illustrated botanical literature. Meen was a teacher of painting, especially flowers and insects, who showed her work at the Royal Academy. According to Henrey, two parts of the work were issued comprising a total of eight plates and a dedication (to Queen Charlotte, one of her pupils). There were also issued two part titles, not present here, which explained that the work could be “had at Mrs. Darling’s, Great Newport Street”. A general title was never issued. Plates 1-4 have printed captions and signatures; plates 5-8 have manuscript captions and no signatures. Henrey also notes: “According to Nissen… [the work]… appeared from 1790-3 in three numbers with nineteen copper plates. The present compiler has not been able to trace a copy corresponding to that mentioned by Dr. Nissen”. It would appear, therefore, that the present copy contains the full complement of plates. LITERATURE: Henrey 1089; Nissen BBI 1332 PROVENANCE: Earl of Dartmouth, bookplate

View 1 of Lot 149:  Margaret Meen | Exotic plates from the Royal Gardens at Kew, 1790

margaret meen | exotic plates from the royal gardens at kew, 1790

Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana

[ALBUM AMICORUM] AN ALBUM OF ORIGINAL DRAWINGS AND WATERCOLOURS OF NATURAL HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHICAL SUBJECTS, INCLUDING A WORK BY MARGARET MEEN. [GREAT BRITAIN: EARLY 19TH CENTURY] 4to (12 11/16 x 12 5/8 in.; 322 x 321 mm). 29 drawings and watercolors, corners mounted. Early English red straight-grained morocco, covers with gilt ruled and decorative cornerpieces, spine with double raised bands in six compartments, second and third gilt lettered ("Recueil des talens / et de l'amitie"), first and sixth with elaborate gilt tooling, marbled endpapers. A striking collection of original drawings and watercolors, including a work by Margaret Meen, "the most outstanding woman painter associated with Kew [Gardens] in the eighteenth century" (Mabley) The most significant piece in the collection is, arguably, a watercolor of bluebells and wood anemones by Margaret Meen, whose Exotic plants from the Royal Gardens at Kew was published in 1790. The album also includes botanical works by M. Austen (a watercolor and bodycolor drawing including crocus, snowdrop and roses), S. Smyth (a watercolor and bodycolor drawing of pink and white flowering mallows), and A. Holland (?) (a watercolor and bodycolor drawing on vellum of nasturtiums), and scenes by William Payne (romantic Italianate fishing village), Jane Machill (a finely executed watercolor of two angles), S.Knott (a watercolor of a sailing vessel in a coastal landscape), and many others. A remarkably handsome album REFERENCE: For Meen see: Blunt & Stearn, The Art of Botanical Illustration 221-222; Henrey III: 248, 577; Mabey, The Flowering of Kew 42 PROVENANCE: Marquis of Bute (sold from Mountstuart, the Bute family home on the island of Bute)

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