Travel, Atlases, Maps and Natural History 

THORNTON, ROBERT JOHN [The Temple of Flora. Early nineteenth-century] 6 aquatint and engraved botanical plates, finished by hand, (approximately 500 x 370mm., visible area), matted, framed and glazed, slightly browned The collection includes: "The American Cowslip", "The White Lily", "Indian Reed", "The China Limodoron", "The Persian Cyclamen", and "The Nodding Renealmia". LITERATURE: Nissen BBI 1955

[thornton | the temple of flora], 6 botanical plates

Books, Manuscripts & Music, from Medieval to Modern

John Thornton New Illustration of the Sexual System of Carolus von Linnaeus... the Temple of Flora, or Garden of Nature.. London: for the Publisher, by T. Bensley, [1799-] 1807 [-1812] 3 parts in one volume, folio (557 x 441 mm). Part 1: engraved half-title ("A British Trophy..."), engraved portrait of Thornton by Bartolozzi after Russell, engraved additional title ("A New Illustration..."), engraved portrait of Linnaeus by Meyer after Hollman and Bartolozzi, title-page (dated 1807), engraved portrait of Queen Charlotte by Bartolozzi after Beechy, engraved dedication to the Queen, 3 engraved tables, engraved part-title ("The Prize Dissertation..."), engraved plate of "The Universal Power of Love", engraved portrait of Sir Thomas Millington, engraved plate of "Farina of Flowers...". Part 2: engraved part-title, mezzotint portrait of Linnaeus in Lapland dress by Dunkarton after Hoffman (Dunthorne's state A), 2 engraved tables. Part 3: engraved title on 2 sheets (dated 1799), engraved table of contents, engraved dedication on 2 sheets, engraved part-title, 31 engraved plates, comprising: 3 coloured frontispieces ("Flora Dispensing her Favours on Earth", "Aesculapius, Flora, Ceres and Cupid...", and "Cupid Inspiring the Plants with Love" ) and 28 botanical plates ("The Snowdrop" (Dunthorne's first state), "The Persian Cyclamen" (first state), "Hyacinths" (second state), "Roses" (first state), "A Group of Carnations" (first state), "A Group of Auriculas" (two auriculas only, second state), "Tulips" (apparently a trial state, no caption for title), "The Queen", "The Aloe" (first state), "The Nodding Renealmea" (first state), "The Night-Blowing Cereus" (first state), "The oblique-leaved Begonia" (first state), "Large Flowering Sensitive Plant" (first state), "The Blue Passion Flower" (first state), "The Winged Passion Flower" (first state), "The Quadrangular Passion-Flower" (first state), "The White Lily with Variegated Leaves" (third state), "The Superb Lily" (plate B: "the Earlom plate", third state), "The Dragon Arum" (second state), "The Dragon-Bearing Stapella" (second state), "American Bog Plants" (second state), "The Pontic Rhododendron", "The American Cowslip" (first state), "The Narrow-leaved Kalmia", "The China Limodoron", "Indian Reed" (first state: with the additional hand-painted petals), "The Sacred Egyptian Bean", "The Blue Egyptian Water-Lily"), contemporary diced russia gilt, spine with raised bands in seven compartments, gilt edges, brown endpapers, some spotting and browning, "Dragon Arum" plate with closed tear along top of platemark, endleaves creased, rebacked retaining original spine, old staining to covers, extremities rubbed ONE OF THE GRANDEST AND MOST SUMPTUOUS OF THE ENGLISH BOTANICAL BOOKS, COUCHED IN THE ROMANTIC IDIOM, A HANDSOME COPY IN A CONTEMPORARY BINDING WITH MANY PLATES IN THE FIRST STATE, AND THE "TULIPS" PLATE APPARENTLY IN A TRIAL STATE. Conceived on a grandiose scale, New Illustration was to comprise three parts: a dissertation on the sexual reproductive cycle of plants; an explanation of Linnæus's plant system, lavishly illustrated with botanical plates and portraits of botanists; and "The Temple of Flora," which was to have no less than 70 large plates of exotic plant species arranged according to the classification system of Linnæus. Each species was to appear in its native environment. The production of the plates for "The Temple of Flora" involved a variety of techniques—aquatint, mezzotint, stipple engraving, and stippling with line engraving, or etching, which required the participation of a large number of artists. Among those commissioned by Thornton were Philip Reinagle, who executed most of the preparatory drawings; Abraham Pether, known for his moody quasi-Gothic landscapes; Sydenham Edwards and Peter Henderson; and the engravers Richard Earlom, James Caldwall, and Thomas Burke. Only the plate of the Rose was drawn by Thornton and executed by Earlom. In spite of using a host of artists and engravers, Thornton managed to "maintain a remarkable homogeneity of style throughout" (Oak Spring Flora), but production was a protracted stop-and-go affair, causing the text and plates to appear irregularly, and to bring Thornton ultimately to the brink of personal bankruptcy. For his contribution to English botanical illustration, Thornton has been compared to Redouté by Alan Thomas: "[M]ore or less coeval with Redouté in France came the production of the greatest English colour-plate flower book. … What Redouté produced under the patronage of L'Héritier, Marie Antionette, the Empress Josephine, Charles X and the Duchesse de Berry, Thornton set out to do alone. … The result was almost total failure. … His fortune was engulfed and his family reduced to penury. … It is easy to raise one's eyebrows at Thornton's unworldly and injudicious approach to publishing … but he produced … the most strikingly beautiful set of flower plates ever to be printed in England [and] one of the loveliest books in the world" (Great Books and Book Collectors, pp. 142–144). Yet, as its enduring appeal proves, Thornton's vision transcends the genre. That a book of botanical illustration could come to summarize the Age of Romanticism is a tribute to imaginative genius in aesthetic crossed with scientific inquiry. "To arrive at Thornton is to boil down all the diversities of the time in architecture, poetry, painting, fiction, music, from Walpole and Sir William Chambers to Shelley and the music of Weber, by way of Chatterton writing in Gothic or African mood of Medieval Bristol or reeking tigers, by way of the wild imaginings of Turner, or Martin or Francis Danby, by way of elements even in Blake, in Coleridge, in Wordsworth. An age is packed into these folio plates which Thornton directed" (Geoffrey Grigson in Thornton's Temple of Flora, p. 12). REFERENCE: Dunthorne 301; Grigson and Buchanan, Thornton's Temple of Flora (1951); Nissen 1955; Stafleu TL2 14.283. PROVENANCE: Christopher Tower: bookplate

View 1 of Lot 82: John Thornton | New Illustration of the Sexual System of Carolus von Linnaeus... the Temple of Flora, [1799-] 1807 [-1812], 3 parts in one volume, contemporary diced russia gilt

john thornton | new illustration of the sexual system of carolus von linnaeus... the temple of flora, [1799-] 1807 [-1812], 3 parts in one volume, contemporary diced russia gilt

Important Americana

Two hand-colored and color-printed aquatint and stipple engravings by Hopwood and Warner, London: June 1st., 1802. Framed. includes: The Quadrangular Passion Flower — The Winged Passion Flower each sheet approximately: 498 by 362 mm  19 5/8 by 14 1/4 in

the temple of flora: a pair of aquatint and stipple engravings

Aquatint printed in colors, with hand-coloring, after Peter Henderson, 1804, on heavy wove paper, with margins, laid down to back-mat, pale light- stain, the sheet edges with remains of paper and adhesive from over-mat, small holes and losses at right, framed

temple of flora: the blue egyptian water lily

Aquatint and line engraving printed in colors, with hand-coloring, the first state (of two), after Philip Reinagle, 1798, on wove paper, with margins, in good condition except the margins with pale mat stain throughout, significant creasing at bottom, three short horizontal tears at the right sheet edge (longest 1/2", repaired), framed

temple of flora: the aloe

Aquatint, line and stipple engraving printed in colors, with hand-coloring, the second (final) state, after Peter Henderson, 1801, on heavy wove paper, with margins, in good condition apart from foxing, mat stain, light surface soiling and creasing, primarily in the margins, time stain along the sheet edges, a small break above the plate mark at upper right, framed

temple of flora: the maggot-bearing stapelia

Mezzotint printed in colors, with hand-coloring, the second state (of four) after Peter Henderson, 1801, on wove paper with the J. Whatman watermark, with margins; together with ROBERT JOHN THORNTON (PUBLISHER): SNOWDROP, mezzotint printed in colors, with hand-coloring, c. 1804, on wove paper, with margins, in good condition except the margins of the first with mat stain and scattered foxing, a shallow paper loss at the upper sheet edge, the second laid down to board and glued to the overmat, several specks of foxing, framed (2)

temple of flora: the dragon arum

Mezzotint with aquatint and roulette printed in colors, with hand-coloring, Plate B, the third state (of four), after Philip Reinagle, 1799, on wove paper, with narrow margins, re-attached on three sides and made up at bottom (3/4" wide), a few light surface scuffs, with discoloration and soiling in the margins and on the verso throughout

temple of flora: the superb lily

Travel, Atlases, Maps and Natural History

Large folio (575 x 455mm.), 29 (of 31) plates engraved in aquatint, mezzotint, stipple or line by Caldwell, Stadler, Earlom Warner and others, after Henderson, Reinagle and others, printed in colours and finished by hand, most plates in Buchanan’s second or third state (other than those found in one state only), contemporary olive straight-grained morocco gilt, without the first two allegorical plates, plate 21 (superb lily) split along plate line, binding rubbed

the temple of flora, or garden of nature. london: for the author, 1810]

 The Magnificent Botanical Library of D. F. Allen

Original green wrapper with pink printed label for Part One and half-title for Part Three bound in at front, engraved title on two leaves (one leaf with engraved vignette by Tomkins after Burney), dedication, contents leaf and subtitle. Illustration: Color-printed frontispiece portrait of Linnæus by H. Meyer after Hoffman and Bartolozzi, uncolored plate of "The Universal Power of Love" by Cordon after Kirke, 2 mezzotint versions of "Linnæus in His Lapland Dress" after Hoffmann (one by Kingsbury printed in sepia and finished by hand; the other by Dunkarton printed in black), 3 very fine colored stipple-engraved plates of allegorical subjects after Russell & Opie, Cosway, and Reinagle, uncolored engraved portrait of Queen Charlotte by Bartolozzi after Beechy, and 29 superb botanical plates employing aquatint, mezzotint, stipple engraving, and etching, printed in colors and finished by hand, some heightened with gum arabic. 

Original green wrapper with pink printed label for Part One and half-title for Part Three bound in at front, engraved title on two leaves (one leaf with engraved vignette by Tomkins after Burney), dedication, contents leaf and subtitle. Illustration: Color-printed frontispiece portrait of Linnæus by H. Meyer after Hoffman and Bartolozzi, uncolored plate of "The Universal Power of Love" by Cordon after Kirke, 2 mezzotint versions of "Linnæus in His Lapland Dress" after Hoffmann (one by Kingsbury printed in sepia and finished by hand; the other by Dunkarton printed in black), 3 very fine colored stipple-engraved plates of allegorical subjects after Russell & Opie, Cosway, and Reinagle, uncolored engraved portrait of Queen Charlotte by Bartolozzi after Beechy, and 29 superb botanical plates employing aquatint, mezzotint, stipple engraving, and etching, printed in colors and finished by hand, some heightened with gum arabic.  Broadsheets (22 3/4 x 17 1/2 in.; 578 x 445 mm). Binding: Contemporary diced russia, spine elaborately gilt-tooled in seven compartments, covers with acanthus-tooled gilt borders, central panels with gilt floral corner-pieces.  Bound-in wrapper somewhat darkened, marginal soiling to frontispiece, some minor thumb-soiling and spotting in margins of some plates, occasional offsetting to text. Binding with neat restoration to spine, some rubbing and wear, few gouges on lower cover, endpapers renewed.

the temple of flora, or garden of nature, being picturesque botanical plates of the new illustration of the sexual system of linnæus. london: for the publisher, 1799 (i.e., 1798–1807)

comprising Flora dispensing Her Favours on the Earth, 1807, and another depicting a cupid in a landscape, dedicated to Linnaeus, each with mezzotint and aquatint printed in colors and finished with hand-coloring, matted and framed.

robert john thornton (publisher): two plates from the temple of flora, circa 1805

Aquatint printed in colors, with hand-coloring, by Caldwell after Renaigle, the third (final) state, 1800, on wove paper with the J. Whatman 1794 watermark, with wide margins, in good condition apart from pale light- and mat stain, pin holes at the sheet corners, minor surface soiling, framed

temple of flora: the blue passion flower

Magnificent Books, Manuscripts and Drawings from the Collection of Frederick 2nd Lord Hesketh

First edition, folio (580 x 460mm.), volume one with 122 plates, portraits and diagrams, including Linnaeus in his Lapland dress (plain), volume two, The Temple of Flora, with 6 engraved titles or dedications, an engraved portrait of the Queen, engraved contents leaf, and 31 coloured plates, comprising 3 allegorical hand-coloured aquatint plates ("Aesculapius, Flora, Ceres and Cupid honouring the Bust of Linnaeus", "Cupid Inspiring Plants with Love", "Flora dispensing Her Favours on the Earth"), and 28 fine hand-coloured plates of flowering plants, engraved in aquatint, mezzotint, stipple or line, contemporary russia, covers tooled in gilt and blind, spine gilt in compartments, occasional slight spotting, text offset onto background of American Cowslip, binding rebacked retaining most of original spines

a new illustration of the sexual system of... linnaeus... the temple of flora, or garden of nature. london: t. bensley, [1799]-1807

A Celebration of the English Country House

Small format book edtion. From The Temple of Flora, consisting: The Sacred Egyptian Bean, The Night-blooming Cereus, The Pontic Rhododendron and The Blue Egyptian Water Lily. Later matted and framed, not examined out of frames.

a set of four english hand-colored mezzotints, robert john thornton (publisher) from the temple of flora, small format book edtionlondon, circa 1812

First edition, folio (570 x 450mm.), 6 engraved titles or sectional titles, engraved portraits of Thornton, Queen Charlotte, Linnaeus (2 portraits, including one showing him in Lapp dress, both in 2 states, coloured and plain), Thomas Millington, engraved plate of "The Universal Power of Love", engraved dedications, diagrams and list of plates, the Temple of Flora with 3 allegorical hand-coloured aquatint plates, and 30 fine hand-coloured plates of flowering plants, engraved in aquatint, mezzotint, stipple or line, including both states of the Auriculas, and the American Bog Plant (this not called for in the list of plates), twentieth-century morocco-backed boards, vellum corners, [Great Flower Books, p.77; Nissen BBI 1955; Grigson and Buchanan, Thornton's Temple of Flora (London, 1951)], isolated marginal dampstaining affecting a very few leaves

Fine European Furniture

being Roses, A Group of Auriculas ("Henderson pinx. | Lewis & Hopwood Sculp."), The Pontic Rhododendron, The Nodding Renealmia, The Sacred Egyptian Bean, The Oblique-Leaved Begonia; Hyacinths; and The Superb Lily.  Uniformly matted, glazed, and framed, not examined out of frames.

thornton, robert john a group of 8 handcolored engraved plates from 'the temple of flora'london, 1799-1807

N09247

the sacred egyptian beane; the american cowslip; and the persian cyclamen: three colored aquatints from the temple of flora

Prints

The book compising 28 drypoint (lacking the additional drypoint on chine applique), 1984, signed in pencil on the justification page and numbered 115, from the edition of 175 (total edition includes 25 hors commerce copies), on BFK Rives paper, contained in original cloth-covered box; together with APOCALYPSE (D'O. & F. 141), the cook comprising 29 woodcuts, 1982, signed in pencil on the tital page, numbered 118 on the colophon, from the edition of 125 (total ediiton includes 15  hors commerce copies), on Apta paper, contained in original wooden cover with leather binding (first boo, with 28 prints; second book with 29 prints)

the temple of flora (d'o. & f. 177)

S/O Rosekrans

Folio (20 1/2 x 14 in.; 520 x 355 mm).  28 fine drypoint engravings by Dine, plate and text on Rives BFK.  Quarter dark green morocco, spine lettered in gilt, pale green cloth covers.  Box covered in pale green cloth and with bas-relief cast in bonded bronze by Ron Dillow on lid of box and with gilt-lettered green morocco onlay; some slight fading to box.

Folio (20 1/2 x 14 in.; 520 x 355 mm).  28 fine drypoint engravings by Dine, plate and text on Rives BFK.  Quarter dark green morocco, spine lettered in gilt, pale green cloth covers.  Box covered in pale green cloth and with bas-relief cast in bonded bronze by Ron Dillow on lid of box and with gilt-lettered green morocco onlay; some slight fading to box. Copy 58 of 150 numbered copies (of a whole edition of 175), signed by Dine.  With an extra print on chine collé from the second state of the frontispieces, signed and numbered, in a printed folder.  This copy a presentation copy, inscribed by Dine for Dodie Rosekrans on the title-page. The poetry accompanying the plates includes work by John Ashbury, James Schuyler, Thom Gunn, Frank O'Hara, and others.

jim dine, illus. the temple of flora: twenty-eight drypoint engravings; with botanical notes compiled and poetry selected by glenn todd and nancy dine. san francisco: arion press, 1984

thornton, john. three plates from the temple of flora, comprising: the narrow-leaved...

PF1334

(D’Oench & Feinberg 177) Gravures sur cuivre de Jim Dine. San Francisco, The Arion Press, 1984. In-folio (530 x 365 mm), relié, sous couverture cartonnée recouverte sur les côtés de tissu gris-vert, et dos en cuir de chèvre vert. Etui en carton recouvert de tissu gris-vert, de cuir de chèvre vert imprimé en lettres dorées, avec bas-relief Flora temple’s gate de Jim Dine coulé en bronze collé sur le front Edition originale ornée de 28 eaux-fortes et aquatintes en couleurs hors-texte, non signées, cuivres travaillés dans l’atelier Aldo Crommelynck, impression atelier R. E. Townsend & C., Georgetown, Massachusetts, sur papier vélin de RivesUne gravure supplémentaire du frontispice, Details from Nancy's Garden, signée, numérotée 15/175, sur papier de Chine contrecollé Un des 175 exemplaires numéroté 15/175, signé au crayon par l’artiste

the temple of flora

Contemporary Living – Photographs, Prints & Design

the book, comprising 28 drypoints lacking the original drypoint on chine appliqué, signed on the justification page in pencil, numbered 115, from the edition of 175 (total edition includes 25 hors commerce copies), 1984, on Rives paper, contained in the original cloth-covered box (28 prints)

the temple of flora (d'onech & feinberg 177)

Collections

comprising "A group of Auriculas", "The American Cowslip", "Tulips", "The Superb Lilly", "The Night Blowing Cercus", "Roses, "Hyancinths", "A group of Carnations", on giltwood frames by F.A.Polak, uniformly matted, glazed, and framed, not examined out of frames 

Travel, Atlases, Maps & Natural History

4to (392 x 307mm.), coloured frontispiece, 2 pictorial titles, 2 plain allegorical plates, 28 coloured plates of flowering plants (including the Persian cyclamen not found in some copies), stipple, mezzotint or aquatint, some partially printed in colours and finished by hand, recent half calf, [Dunthorne 302; Stafleu TL2 14.283; Great Flower Books, p.77], minor fraying to one or two text leaves

temple of flora. london: the author, 1812

Fine Books & Manuscripts Online

THORNTON, ROBERT JOHN Temple of Flora, or Garden of the Botanist, Poet, Painter, and Philosopher. London: for the author, 1812 Large 4to (14⅞ x 12 in.; 378 x 305 mm). Engraved calligraphic title on two leaves, 28 stipple, aquatint, or mezzotint plates including frontispiece, partially printed in color and finished by hand, 2 black and white mezzotint plates ("Cupid, Flora, Ceres and Esculapius Hounoring the Bust of Linnaeus," "Cupid inspiring plants with Love") by Maddocks after Russell and Bartolozzi and Landseer after Reinagle; title-pages foxed, the first with a closed tear at lower margin, scattered soiling and foxing throughout, "The Persian Cyclamen" short and inserted from another copy. Contemporary half skiver over marbled boards; extremities worn with loss to head of spine. The "lottery edition" of Thornton's celebrated and idiosyncratic work. Grigson speculates that copies of, or plates from, this smaller formatted edition of the Temple of Florawere to be given as prizes during the famous "Botanical Lottery" that Thornton was compelled to organize in order to stave off bankruptcy caused by the production of the monumental large folio edition (Grigson & Buchanan, Thornton's Temple of Flora, 1951). REFERENCES: Dunthorne 302; Great Flower Booksp. 77; Stafleu & Cowan Tl2 14.283; Johnston/Cleveland 763 PROVENANCE: J. Kyrle Fletcher Ltd. (original 1935 invoice laid in)

thornton, robert john | temple of flora, or garden of the botanist, poet, painter, and philosopher. london: for the author, 1812

Second edition, 4to (385 x 305mm.), double-page engraved title, hand-coloured allegorical plate "Flora dispensing her favours on the Earth", plain plate of "Cupid, Flora, Ceres, and Esculapius honouring the bust of Linnaeus", plain plate of "Cupid inspiring plants with Love", 28 coloured plates of flowering plants (including the Persian Cyclamen, not found in some copies), stipple, mezzotint or aquatint, some partially printed in colours and finished by hand, nineteenth-century half calf

temple of flora, or garden of the botanist, poet, painter, and philosopher. london: the author, 1812

L12405

Second edition, 4to (382 x 300mm.), engraved title over two leaves, hand-coloured allegorical plate ("Flora dispensing her Favours on the Earth"), 2 plain engraved plates ("Cupid, Flora, Ceres, and Esculapius, Honouring the Bust of Linnaeus" and "Cupid inspiring Plants with Love"), 28 coloured plates of flowering plants (including the Persian cyclamen not found in some copies), stipple, mezzotint or aquatint, some partially printed in colours and finished by hand, contemporary maroon straight-grained morocco tooled in gilt and blind, gilt edges, [Dunthorne 302; Great Flower Books, p.77; Stafleu TL2 14.283], occasional slight paper toning, extremities rubbed

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