Detail author
CURTIS William - England - 1746 - 1799
The pharmacist William Curtis was born in Alton in 1746. He was the director of the Chelsear Gardens from 1771 to 1777. Founder of the Bermondesey Botanical Garden, he worked there for 18 years. He was also a draftsman at Kew. e died in Brompton in 1799.
Botanical Interests: The English botanist William Curtis, already known for his important treatise, Flora Londiniensis, founded in 1787 the periodical, The Botanical Magazine; or, Flower-Garden Displayed. Dedicated to all aficionados of flower gardening, it became a very important channel of information on cultivation methods and worldwide novelties in floriculture. Its 53 splendid volumes (1793-1826) contain 2692 hand-colored prints. Rarely is the entire collection united as a whole. In the Aboca Collection we have some numbers and the reproductions displayed here belong to number 3. Numbers 14-53 (beginning of the 1800s) were edited also by the scholar John Sims (1749-1831). In the issues edited by Curtis, the majority of the plants described come from Europe and from North America, with a few from South Africa. Besides the precise suggestions on cultivation techniques, the illustrations are most beautiful, assigned to the best masters of the times, such as John Curtis, Sydenham Edwards, William Hooker and others. The publication has continued throughout the 20th century under a different name and editor.
ORIGINAL WORKS AVAILABLE ONLINE IN THE ABOCA LIBRARY
The Botanical Magazine; or, Flower-Garden Displayed […]
Main work: The Botanical Magazine, Londra, 1793 - 1826
Botanical interests: The English botanist William Curtis, already known for his important treatise, Flora Londiniensis, founded in 1787 the periodical, The Botanical Magazine; or, Flower-Garden Displayed. Dedicated to all aficionados of flower gardening, it became a very important channel of information on cultivation methods and worldwide novelties in floriculture. Its 53 splendid volumes (1793-1826) contain 2692 hand-colored prints. Rarely is the entire collection united as a whole. In the Aboca Collection we have some numbers and the reproductions displayed here belong to number 3. Numbers 14-53 (beginning of the 1800s) were edited also by the scholar John Sims (1749-1831). In the issues edited by Curtis, the majority of the plants described come from Europe and from North America, with a few from South Africa. Besides the precise suggestions on cultivation techniques, the illustrations are most beautiful, assigned to the best masters of the times, such as John Curtis, Sydenham Edwards, William Hooker and others. The publication has continued throughout the 20th century under a different name and editor.