Set of Three Curtis Botanical Prints

42 Views

Three handcolored botanical illustrations from Curtis’s Botanical Magazine.
Sold Unframed – May be purchased individually or as a set.
Each measures 14 x 23 cm

GESNERA TUBEROSA. TUBEROUS-ROOTED GESNERA – Plate 3664 Published in 1838
Texts below Image:
W. Fitch del
Pubᵈ by S. Curtis, Glazenwood Essex June 1. 1838.
Swan Sc.

W. Fitch delᵗ stands for Walter Hood Fitch delineavit, meaning the plate was drawn by the celebrated botanical artist Walter Hood Fitch (1817–1892), one of the principal illustrators of the magazine in the 19th century.

Swan Sc. stands for Swan sculpsit, indicating that the plate was engraved by Swan.

“Pubᵈ by S. Curtis, Glazenwood Essex June 1. 1838.” identifies the publisher as Samuel Curtis of Glazenwood, Essex, and provides the exact publication date of this plate: June 1, 1838.

DORSTENIA CERATOSANTHES. CLEFT DORSTENIA – Plate 2760 Published in 1827

Curtis's Botanical Magazine

1789 to the Current Day, London

Curtis’s Botanical Magazine is the longest continuously published botanical periodical in the world, first issued in 1787 and still produced today. Founded by the English botanist and apothecary William Curtis, the magazine was created to make newly discovered and cultivated plants accessible to gardeners, collectors, and scientific readers alike. Curtis believed that clear botanical description should be accompanied by accurate and beautiful illustration, and from the beginning each issue featured finely engraved, carefully hand colored plates.

Curtis had previously worked at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and although the magazine was initially an independent venture, it quickly became closely associated with Kew. As Britain’s global botanical networks expanded through exploration and empire, many newly introduced species passed through Kew’s collections before appearing in the pages of the magazine. Over time, the publication became an essential record of horticultural discovery, documenting plants from South Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and beyond.

After Curtis’s death in 1799, the magazine continued under a succession of distinguished botanical editors, most notably William Jackson Hooker and later his son Joseph Dalton Hooker, both directors of Kew. The publication’s scientific credibility grew alongside its artistic excellence.

A remarkable roster of artists contributed to the magazine over more than two centuries. Among the most celebrated were:

Sydenham Edwards, one of the earliest and most prolific illustrators of the series
James Sowerby
Walter Hood Fitch, whose energetic style defined much of the mid 19th century output
Matilda Smith, the first official botanical artist at Kew and one of the most significant female scientific illustrators of her era
Lilias Marianne Medland

Each artist combined scientific precision with aesthetic sensitivity, resulting in plates that are valued today not only as botanical documents but also as works of art.

Early issues were produced as copper engravings with hand coloring, while later periods incorporated lithography and other advances in printing technology. Despite changes in technique, the defining qualities remained consistent: clarity of structure, faithful coloration, and a focus on individual species presented against a plain background to highlight diagnostic features.

Today, prints from Curtis’s Botanical Magazine are prized by collectors, gardeners, and interior designers alike. They represent over two centuries of horticultural history and stand as a testament to the enduring collaboration between science and art.

More Prints from Curtis's Botanical Magazine

Plate 2760 – Texts on Image

W. H. delᵗ
Pub. by S. Curtis, Walworth, Augᵗ 1 1827.
Swan Sc.

W. H. delᵗ indicates that the plate was drawn (delineavit) by Walter Hood Fitch (1817–1892), one of the principal and most accomplished illustrators of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine in the nineteenth century.

Swan Sc. stands for Swan sculpsit, meaning the plate was engraved by Swan.

“Pub. by S. Curtis, Walworth, Augᵗ 1 1827.” identifies the publisher as Samuel Curtis, then based at Walworth, and gives the exact publication date of the plate: August 1, 1827.

The smaller numbered figures (1–5) refer to the botanical details shown at lower left, illustrating dissected parts of the plant for scientific clarity.

BILLBERGIA CRUENTA. BLOOD-STAINED BILLBERGIA – Plate 2892

W. H. delᵗ
Pub. by S. Curtis, Walworth, March 1, 1829.
Swan Sc.

The number 2892 corresponds to this plate’s sequence in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine.

W. H. delᵗ indicates that the plate was drawn (delineavit) by Walter Hood Fitch (1817–1892), one of the principal botanical illustrators of the magazine during the nineteenth century.

Swan Sc. stands for Swan sculpsit, meaning the plate was engraved by Swan.

“Pub. by S. Curtis, Walworth, March 1, 1829.” identifies the publisher as Samuel Curtis, then operating from Walworth, and gives the exact publication date of this plate: March 1, 1829.

The smaller numbered figures (1–4) refer to the dissected botanical details shown at lower left and right, illustrating floral structure and internal parts for scientific study.

Partial transcription of the text:

Transcription of the printed descriptive page

(Plate number at top)

(3664)

GESNERA TUBEROSA. TUBEROUS-ROOTED GESNERA.

Class and Order.
Didynamia Gymnospermia.
(Nat. Ord.—Gesneraceæ.)

Generic Character.
Calyx 5-partitus, (plerumque germini adnatus.) Corollæ tubuloso-campanulata, limbo bilabiato; labio superiore bi- inferiore trifido. Stigma bilobum. Capsula bilocularis, 2-valvis, placentis parietalibus.

Specific Character and Synonyms.
Gesnera tuberosa; radice tuberosa subrotunda, caulibus perbrevibus tuberiformibus, foliis subradicalibus late ovatis serratis molliter pubescentibus, pedunculis numerosis erectis 1—3-floris, corollæ tubo paululum curvato limbo 4-fido subæquali, glandulis hypogynis posticis binis.

Gesnera tuberosa. Mart. Nov. Gen. et Sp. Bras. v. 3. p. 29. t. 212.
Gesnera rupestris. Graham in Ed. Phil. Journ. Dec. 1837.

Then the English descriptive text begins:

“For the introduction of this very remarkable species of Gesnera to the British stoves we are indebted to Dr. Graham, who received it from the Berlin Garden in 1834, but under the name of ‘G. rupestris, Mart.’—by mistake, as I should presume: for it is assuredly the G. tuberosa of Martius above quoted. It flowers readily in the stove during the autumnal months.

NOTE: In 19th-century horticultural language, a “stove” does not mean a cooking appliance. A “stove” was a heated greenhouse or hothouse, used for cultivating tropical or subtropical plants. These were often called “stove-houses,” and would have been necessary for a tropical Brazilian species like Gesnera.

DORSTENIA CERATOSANTHES. CLEFT DORSTENIA.

Class and Order.
Monœcia Diandria.
(Nat. Ord.—Urticeæ.)

Generic Character.
Receptaculum carnosum dilatatum, patens, superne papillosum vel squamosum: papillis vel squamis intus florigeris. Cal. 0. Cor. 0. Stam. 2. Pistillum receptaculo immersum: Stylus bifidus, lateralis. Pericarpia monosperma.

Specific Character and Synonym.
Dorstenia ceratosanthes; acaulis, foliis oblongo-cordatis subserratis reticulato-venosis scabridis, receptaculo bipartito, laciniis linear-acuminatis margine laciniatis.
Dorstenia ceratosanthes. Lodd. Bot. Cab. t. 1216.

Descr. I am unacquainted with the root of this plant, from the top or crown of which the leaves are said immediately to spring: these are elevated upon a footstalk, about six to eight inches long, oblong, or ovato-oblong, acuminated, the margin obscurely serrated, the base cordate, the surface marked with numerous reticulated veins, which contract the substance of the leaf so as to make it blistery on the upper surface, every where rough to the touch, but with points so minute, that they are scarcely visible with a common lens: the colour is very dark green on the upper surface, much paler beneath, where the nerves are very prominent. Receptacles upon a scape, shorter than the leafstalk, and compressed upwards, two or three inches long, rounded at the base, cleft from the top almost to the bottom, into two linear-acuminated segments, plane above, keeled beneath, and there furnished with a midrib, the margin papillose, and beneath the papillæ are several filiform …

BILLBERGIA CRUENTA. BLOOD-STAINED BILLBERGIA.

Class and Order.
Hexandria Monogynia.
(Nat. Ord.—Bromeliaceæ.)

Generic Character.
Calyx superus. Petala convoluta, basi squamosa. Stam. basi perianthii inserta. Stylus filiformis. Stigmata linearia, convoluta. Capsula baccata? Semina nuda. Lindl.

Specific Character and Synonym.
Billbergia *cruenta; foliis ligulatis obtusis mucronatis dentato spinosis apice (sæpissime) sanguineo-maculatis, bracteis lato-ovalibus imbricatis obtusissimis concavis, spica capitata subsessili.
Bromelia cruenta. Graham in Edin. Phil. Journ.

Descr. Plant probably parasitic. Stem short, ascending, cylindrical. Stolons axillary, sheathed with large, imbricated, ovate, adpressed, entire scales. Leaves (one and a half to two feet long, three inches broad,) numerous, imbricated, erect at their base, spreading above, linear, obtuse, mucronate, serrato-spinosus, very hard and rigid, bright green and concave above, pruinose in transverse stripes and rounded below, sprinkled irregularly with blood-red stains, and marked with the same colour on the anterior surface for above half an inch at the apex, greatly dilated at their base, and forming a cup, from which water thrown upon the plant does not escape. Spike terminal, capitate, bracteate.

So named by Thunberg, in honour of Gustavus John Billberg, an excellent Swedish Botanist.