This plate is one of the classics of the Curtis volumes & likely a First Edition print, which are generally very rare. Appears to be on the original chain-lined paper which would indicate an original 1st edition. This one is from a set that all featured this handmade paper with a similar tone to the sheets, an unusual, beautiful, virtually flawless print to my eye.

The publication:  The "Botanical Magazine" was first published in 1787 by William Curtis (1746-1799). After William Curtis passed, the magazine was published by his brother, Thomas Curtis. Later, Samuel Curtis (a son-in-law of William Curtis) became proprietor from 1801 to 1845. The prints in the first volumes were copper plates colored by hand. Some of the later prints were lithographs.

Some of the distinguished artists were Sydenham Edwards, John Curtis, William Jackson Hooker, W.H. Fitch, William Graves and Matilda Smith. These prints have a universal beauty and are a lasting documentary contribution to botanical studies.

The Artists: Some of these very earliest Curtis plates didn't show the artist & engraver, but based on the style of the drawing & engraving, it looks to my like it might have been one of James Sowerby's plates. James Sowerby (1757 – 1822) was an extensively published English naturalist, illustrator and mineralogist. Contributions to published works, such as A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland or English Botany, include his detailed and appealing plates.

Every part of these prints was made by hand: Hand drawn & engraved on Copper which was hand-mined, smelted & rolled, printed onto handmade cotton rag paper, inked & colored with hand-ground pigments individually by hand, & they were usually hand sewn into handmade leather-bound books.

Condition: Appears to be in excellent, near pristine condition for a centuries-old engraving. The hand-coloring appears to remain sharp & brilliant as the day it was painted.

These prints are very old & may have minor imperfections expected with age, such as some typical age-toning of the paper, oxidation of the old original watercolors, spots, text-offsetting, artifacts from having been bound into a book, etc. Please examine the photos & details carefully.

Text Page(s): This one comes with its original text page.

About this plant:

• Fumaria officinalis, the common fumitory, drug fumitory or earth smoke, is an herbaceous annual flowering plant in the poppy family Papaveraceae. It is the most common species of the genus Fumaria in Western and Central Europe.
• The "smoky" or "fumy" origin of its name comes from the translucent color of its flowers, giving them the appearance of smoke or of hanging in smoke, and the slightly gray-blue haze color of its foliage, also resembling smoke coming from the ground, especially after morning dew.
• Usage of this plant as medicine began in Europe in the late Middle Ages, although it was known since antiquity.
• The plant contains isoquinoline alkaloids protopine and allocryptopine. Both protopine and allocryptopine increased CYP1A1 and CYP1A2 mRNA levels in human hepatocyte cells.

Size: 5 1/2 x 9" inches approximately.

Shipping: Multiple prints combine into one USPS Flat-Rate envelope. If you'd like to combine & need more time to choose, please send a message & we'll do our best to oblige. If you're assessed multiple shipping for one combined package, we'll endeavor to refund any overage asap.

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