.jpg?w=1)
Details
NATURE PRINTING - THOMAS MOORE (1821-1887)
The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland... Edited by John Lindley... Nature-printed by Henry Bradbury. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1855[-1856]. 2 (548 x 392mm). Mounted on guards throughout, half-title. 51 nature-printed plates, all printed in colours, by Bradbury & Evans under the direction of Henry Bradbury. (Neat repairs to outer margins of half-title, title and first three text leaves, small chips to blank margins of a few text leaves, occasional light marginal spotting to some plates, plate L with larger area of lower blank margin stained.) Original cloth boards (rebacked with dark brown half morocco).
First edition of Bradbury's chef d'oeuvre and a fine example of nature printing. Henry Bradbury (1831-1860), eldest son of William Bradbury of Bradbury & Evans, published the present work in 17 monthly parts between June 1855 and September 1856. With text by Thomas Moore (curator of the Chelsea botanic garden and co-editor of Gardener's Chronicle) and edited by John Lindley (1799-1865), the work was one of the first of the genre printed in Britain. Bradbury went on to publish a four-volume work with nature-printed plates of sea-weeds (W.H. Johnstone & A. Croall. The nature-printed British Seaweeds. London: 1859-60). It is not known how the controversy surrounding nature printing affected Bradbury, but he committed suicide at the age of 29 by drinking acid. He left a number of unrealised projects, including two further nature-printed works on fungi and trees. Fischer 89-91; Nissen BBI 1400; Stafleu & Cowan 6275.
The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland... Edited by John Lindley... Nature-printed by Henry Bradbury. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1855[-1856]. 2 (548 x 392mm). Mounted on guards throughout, half-title. 51 nature-printed plates, all printed in colours, by Bradbury & Evans under the direction of Henry Bradbury. (Neat repairs to outer margins of half-title, title and first three text leaves, small chips to blank margins of a few text leaves, occasional light marginal spotting to some plates, plate L with larger area of lower blank margin stained.) Original cloth boards (rebacked with dark brown half morocco).
First edition of Bradbury's chef d'oeuvre and a fine example of nature printing. Henry Bradbury (1831-1860), eldest son of William Bradbury of Bradbury & Evans, published the present work in 17 monthly parts between June 1855 and September 1856. With text by Thomas Moore (curator of the Chelsea botanic garden and co-editor of Gardener's Chronicle) and edited by John Lindley (1799-1865), the work was one of the first of the genre printed in Britain. Bradbury went on to publish a four-volume work with nature-printed plates of sea-weeds (W.H. Johnstone & A. Croall. The nature-printed British Seaweeds. London: 1859-60). It is not known how the controversy surrounding nature printing affected Bradbury, but he committed suicide at the age of 29 by drinking acid. He left a number of unrealised projects, including two further nature-printed works on fungi and trees. Fischer 89-91; Nissen BBI 1400; Stafleu & Cowan 6275.