CURTIS BOTANICAL 1885 Vol 111 - Vol 41 3rd Series DOUBLE H/C - Garlic - 6828

We are very pleased to be able to offer a series of hand-coloured prints from the early volumes of the Third Series (1845-1904) of Curtiss Botanical Magazine.

Soon after the commencement of the Third Series the ownership of the magazine was transferred to Lovell Reeve, one of the leading Natural History publishers of the 19th Century. The first six monthly parts of Vol 1 (1845) were published by Samuel Curtis, the existing proprietor; the issue for July 1845 became the first published by the new owner.

The change in ownership marked the immediate introduction of lithographed plates - the last engraved plates and the first lithographed plates appeared in the first volume of the series. From Vol 2 (1846) onwards all the plates in the Third Series were lithographed.

Otherwise, little else changed. William Jackson Hooker, who had edited the magazine since 1827, continued in that role, a post he held until his death in 1865, when he was succeeded by his son Joseph Dalton Hooker. Likewise, Walter Hood Fitch continued in the role of chief illustrator. The combined efforts of a botanist as pre-eminent as William Hooker, an artist as accomplished as Walter Fitch, and a publisher as dedicated as Lovell Reeve ensured that Curtiss Botanical Magazine not only survived into the latter half of the 19th Century - when similar publications did not - but also ensured that the high quality of its content was maintained, despite dwindling subscriptions (see comments below).

During the first thirty years of the Third Series, Walter Fitch both drew and lithographed the overwhelming majority of the plates. Walter Fitch was one of the greatest botanical artists of his time. For many years he was the principal artist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and over 10,000 of his illustrations are known to have been published. Over 2700 of those were in Curtiss Botanical Magazine; his first contribution being in 1834, and his last in 1878.

Joseph Hooker described Walter Fitch thus - an incomparable botanical artist with an unrivalled skill in seizing the natural character of a plant .. I dont think that Fitch could make a mistake in his perspective and outline, not even if he tried (Great Flower Books(1990), p47).

The decades during which Walter Fitch worked for the magazine represent one of the periods in its long history when Curtiss Botanical Magazine was TRULY AT ITS BEST. The collector of botanical prints is spoilt for choice amongst the fabulous illustrations of flowering plants from all around the world. Orchids and other exotic plants are particularly well represented.

Despite the quality of the content, subscriptions to the magazine had fallen to 300 by 1848, and it would appear that they did not rise above the low hundreds during the remainder of the 1800s. When Joseph Hooker resigned in 1904 subscriptions had fallen below 300 and the new editors were given a financial incentive in an attempt to improve the circulation. (see Desmond - pages 83, 91, 157 in A celebration of flowers: two hundred years of Curtiss Botanical Magazine; 1987)

So not only does the Third Series contain numerous wonderful plates by Walter Fitch, the low level of subscriptions also means that those plates are MUCH RARER than plates from earlier series.