THORNTON, Robert John (1768-1837). New Illustration of the Sexual System of Carolus von Linnaeus Comprehending... and the Temple of Flora, or Garden of Nature. London: for the Publisher, by T. Bensley [1799-] 1807-[1812].

3 parts in two volumes (disbound), large folio (565 x 457 mm), comprising:

Part I: Engraved half-title “A British Trophy...”; engraved portrait of Thornton by F. Bartolozzi after Russell; engraved additional title “A New Illustrations of the Sexual System…”; engraved portrait of Linnaeus by H. Meyer after Hollman and Bartolozzi printed in color (laid in from another copy); engraved portrait of Queen Charlotte by Bartolozzi after W. Beechy; engraved dedication; 3 engraved tables; engraved part-title “The Prize Dissertation”; engraved plates of “Farina of Flowers,” “The Universal Power of Love,” and portrait of Sir Thomas Millington as usual; with the addition of 6 engraved portraits and 21 engraved botanicals. Letterpress title and 27 text leaves (including dedication and part-title). (Engraved half-title soiled and frayed, marginal dampstaining, spotting.)

Part II: Engraved part-title “The Sexual System of Carolus Von Linnaeus”; 2 mezzotint portraits (one colored, laid in from another copy) of Linnaeus in Lapland dress by Dunkarton after Hoffman [both Dunthorne's state B]; 3 engraved tables; 17 engraved portraits and 69 engraved botanicals. 7 text leaves including letterpress part-title.

Part III: Engraved title on 2 sheets “The Temple of Flora…Picturesque Botanical Plates…”; engraved table of contents; engraved dedication on 2 sheets; engraved part-title; 3 plates: “Flora Dispensing her Favours on Earth” (aquatint and stipple engraved, hand-colored), “Aesculapius, Flora, Ceres and Cupid...”, and “Cupid Inspiring the Plants with Love” (color-printed stipple-engravings finished by hand); 27 (of 28) mezzotint and/or aquatint engraved plates printed in colors and/colored by hand (lacking only the "Tulips" plate), comprising mostly later states: “The Snowdrop” [Dunthorne state II]; “The Persian Cyclamen” [III]; “Hyacinths” [II]; “Roses” [II]; “A Group of Carnations” [III]; “A Group of Auriculas” [II]; “The Queen Flower”; “The American Aloe”; “The Nodding Renealmia” [II] (3-inch tear affecting plate mark); “The Night Blowing Cereus” [state not in Dunthorne, watermark “E & P 1806”]; “The Oblique-Leaved Begonia” [I]; “Large Flowering Sensitive Plant” [III]; “The Blue Passion Flower” [III]; “The Winged Passion Flower” [III]; “The Quadrangular Passion Flower” [III]; “The White Lily” [state not in Dunthorne, watermark “E & P 1804”]; “The Superb Lily” [B, IV]; “The Dragon Arum” [III]; “The Maggot-Bearing Stapelia” [II]; “American Bog Plants” [II]; “The Pontic Rhododendron”; “The American Cowslip” [II]; “The Narrow Leaved Kalmia”; “The China Limodoron”; “The Indian Reed” [state not in Dunthorne, watermark “J. Whatman 1809”]; “The sacred Indian Bean”; “The Blue Egyptian Water Lily”. 80 text leaves (including part-title and title). (Light marginal toning and soiling to some plates, offsetting to text, part title frayed and soiled, spotting and soiling to general titles.)

Contemporary dark burgundy straight-grain morocco with alternating Greek-rolls and palmettes in blind (disbound, covers present); folding cases.

A VIRTUALLY COMPLETE COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE GRANDEST AND MOST SUMPTUOUS OF ENGLISH BOTANICAL BOOKS. The 28 flower plates are after paintings by Abraham Pether, Philip Reinagle, Sydenham Edwards, Peter Henderson and others. Although a physician by training, Thornton himself provided the painting for the "Roses," a particularly sumptuous plate. Ward, Earlom and Dunkarton executed the mezzotint engraving, while the aquatinting of the plates was done by Stadler and Sutherland. Although it caused his ruin, Thornton produced "... the most strikingly beautiful set of flower plates ever to be printed in England, [and] one of the loveliest books in the world" (see Alan Thomas's account in Great Books and Book Collectors, pp.142-44). However, its publication history was complex, leading Buchanan to state that "no two copies of this book are alike." Even the title was not used consistently. What is now universally known as The Temple of Flora is the final portion of a work which Thornton announced to the public in 1797 as a New illustration of the sexual system of Carolus von Linnaeus. There is no more magnificent English flower book. The present work contains all text leaves as called for, all the engravings in part I and II that are not usually found in most copies, and all but one engraving in part III. Cleveland Collections 722; Dunthorne 301; Great Flower Books p.143; Nissen BBI 1955; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 14.283.