Details: ANDREWS, James (1801-1876). Gesneria Cinnabarina [Flower spray and leaves of a species now called Smithiantha cinnabarina]. [Pl. 6]. London: [E.G. Henderson & Son, 1857-1859]. Zincograph by James Andrews, colored by hand. Sheet size: 14 3/8 x 10 1/2 inches.

A spectacular image from one of the great 19th-century botanical artists, originally published in the very rare 'The Illustrated Bouquet'.

James Andrews is now known only from the considerable body of his published botanical illustrations: - little is known of his life. Paradoxically, whilst the present image is undoubtedly one of his best prints, it is also from a work that is among the least known of the publications that he illustrated. Because Andrews specialized in the 'gift-book' type of botanical illustration there has been a tendency to dismiss him as a 'serious' botanical artist: - his work for 'The Illustrated Bouquet', from which the present image is taken, shows this to be a drastic under-estimation of a botanical artist of the highest order.

Published by Edward and Andrew Henderson between 1857 and 1864, 'The Illustrated Bouquet' was conceived and executed on a much grander scale than any of the other periodicals of the period. The work is very rare: only one complete set is recorded as having sold at auction over the past twenty-five years. With plates over 14 inches high produced by some of the greatest botanical artists of the time, the work as a whole was a truly spectacular undertaking: the present image is a worthy representative of that splendor, and of the talent of a great botanical artist.

BM (NH) II, p.822; Mass. Hort. Soc. p.137; Nissen BBI 847

Condition / Notes:

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