Beschreibung:

FLORILEGIUM--A botanical album of British flowers. [S.l.]: c.1788-98.
FLORILEGIUM--A botanical album of British flowers. [S.l.]: c.1788-98. 4° (273 x 295 mm). 96 botanical drawings on 63 leaves of laid paper on rectos only, in pencil and watercolour, some heightened with bodycolour and gum arabic, foliated in manuscript in the upper right hand corners, the species captioned in a calligraphic hand with Linnaean binomials and vernacular names, some dated underneath, some annotated in pencil, a small number unfinished. (Light marginal browning, traces of tissue guards adhering to upper margin of leaves). Original half calf over marbled boards (a little rubbed and scuffed with small losses at extremities, skillfully rebacked). Provenance : Mrs Morton, Keat's Green, Powick (pencil inscription on upper pastedown; presumably by descent to:) -- Lois Rachel Mason (inscription on front free endpaper: 'Lois Rachel Mason February 1905. Flowers painted from nature by her great great Grandmother.') A FINELY-EXECUTED LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH FLORILEGIUM. During the eighteenth century the genre of flower painting acquired great popularity amongst the aristocratic female circles, and botanical drawing became a fashionable pastime for ladies. It was considered an eminently suitable occupation for well-born women, since it dealt with decorative subjects, which were a feature of the traditionally feminine arts such as embroidery and weaving. Consequently, the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries saw an increased number of women artists working in the field of natural history illustration, generating a number of educational works specifically directed at female artists, such as George Brookshaw's Groups of Flowers , which states that, 'To Ladies, Flower Painting is peculiarly appropriate' (London: 1819, p. [i]; cf. lot 7). In the eighteenth century, the exaltation of the ideal of a 'return to nature' by philosophers and writers contributed to the increased interest for botanical drawing, which took a more scientific dimension as the Enlightenment progressed, and this accomplished botanical album is typical of this period. The artist of this album drew flowers in their natural setting with great scientific realism, in some instances accompanied by insects; in this spirit of scientific accuracy the species depicted are captioned with their Linnaean binomial names together with the vernacular names.