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Rare prints and maps...Since 1918! Click here to go to Darvill's home page.

Since Adirondack Retro acquired Darvill's Rare Prints in August of 2022, we have been working tirelessly on our New State-Of-The Art Website. We are excited to announce that it is now up and running and that our massive inventory of Antique Prints and Rare Maps are being transferred over to the new site daily. In addition to the nearly 500,000 prints found on www.DarvillsRarePrints.com, Adirondack Retro offers an eclectic selection of Antique and Vintage Advertisements along with their Limited Edition Giclee Prints. During this transition, customers will still be able to shop and make purchases on www.DarvillsRarePrints.com.

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Original hand-coloured copperplate engravings from William Curtis's Botanical Magazine, known for their fine details and delicate coloring.
Each single plate measures approx. 5.5 x 9.25 inches, though some trimming may have occured.

Darvill's Rare Prints is delighted to offer highly prized prints from the earlier, more desireable volumes created mainly between 1787-1830.
Please view each scan carefully as they are very accurate and reflect any defects that may appear on a particular print.
Unfortunately, the original text for most plates is no longer available and most plants are thus identified by plate number only.

William Curtis holding his famous book, Flora Londinensis (1777-98).
A portrait attributed to Joseph Wright of Derby.

William Curtis, a Quaker, was eager to share his horticultural knowledge with others; when a projected course of lectures at Chelsea did not materialize, he arranged one of his own, on botany and horticulture, in the new garden which he had made for himself in "Lambeth Marsh."  Here he also cultivated some six thousand species of plants. But his prime interest was in the British flora, especially in such flowers as grew in the neighborhood of London. With the support of Lord Bute, he embarked on his first ambitious project, the Flora Londinensis — a series of coloured folio illustrations and descriptions of the plants which grew within a radius of ten miles of the metropolis.

The first part of Flora Londinensis appeared in 1777, and in the same year Curtis, overburdened with work, resigned his post at Chelsea. For ten years he continued perseveringly at his congenial but unremenerative task; by 1787, the results of his labours were two splendid folio volumes and a deficit which made the continuance of his venture impossible. He understood the cause of the trouble and saw the remedy: if his clients refused to buy folio pictures of the unassuming plants that grew by the wayside, he would win their patronage with octavo engravings of the bright exotics that filled their gardens. Thus, in 1787, the Botanical Magazine was born. As Curtis himself said, it brought him "pudding" whereas Flora Londinensis had only brought him praise.

Darvill's collection of fine Curtis botanicals includes both Flora Londinensis and the Botanical Magazine (below)
Please click on a thumbnail to see the entire plate. Plant names with question marks are derived from other sources,
meaning we do not have the original text for that plate and the name is unconfirmed.
Any condition issues should be identifiable on the enlargements.
508

Plate 508
$69.95

  

Plate 510
$69.95

  
Yellow Gromwell

Plate 515
Yellow Gromwell
(text included)
$69.95

  
Yellow Gromwell

Plate 554
Trumpet-flowered Massonia
(text included)
$69.95

  
Prickly-leaved Massonia

Plate 559
Prickly-leaved Massonia
(text included)
$69.95

  
Sweet-scented Pothos

Plate 603
Sweet-scented Pothos
(text included)
$69.95

  
Plate 605
[Aristea capitata]

Plate 605
[Aristea capitata]
$69.95

  
Dwarf Melanthium

Plate 641
Dwarf Melanthium
(text included)
$69.95

  

Plate 643
$69.95

  

Plate 573
$69.95

  
Stone Catch-fly

Plate 689
Stone Catch-fly
(text included)
$69.95

  
Stone Catch-fly

Plate 698
$69.95

  
Stone Catch-fly

Plate 711
$69.95

  
Lesser Albuca

Plate 720
Lesser Albuca
(text included)
$69.95

  
Narrow-leaved Lachenalia

Plate 735
Narrow-leaved Lachenalia
(text included)
$69.95

  
Sweet-scented Massonia

Plate 736
Sweet-scented Massonia
(text included)
$69.95

  
Spotted Aloe

Plate 765
Spotted Aloe
(text included)
$69.95

  
Fennel-leaved Protea

Plate 796
(Fennel-leaved Protea?)
$69.95

  
Narcissus-leaved Tulbagia

Plate 806
Narcissus-leaved Tulbagia
(text included)
$69.95

  

Plate 812
$69.95

  
Middle-sized Pearl-leaved Aloe

Plate 815
Middle-sized Pearl-leaved Aloe
(text included)
$69.95

  
Blistered Lachanalia

Plate 817
Blistered Lachanalia
(text included)
$69.95

  

Plate 825
  

Glandulous Neottia

Plate 842
Glandulous Neottia
(text included)
$69.95

  
Rigid Epacris

Plate 844
Rigid Epacris
(text included)
$69.95

  
Galangall?

Plate 850
Galangall? (in pencil)
$69.95

  
Starry Protea

Plate 881
Starry Protea
(text included)
$69.95

  
Japan Orontium

Plate 889
Japan Orontium
(text included)
$69.95

  
Bell Flower?

Plate 912
(Bell Flower?)
$69.95

  
Celsia?

Plate 964
(Celsia?)
$69.95

  
Loddigesia?

Plate 965
(Loddigesia?)
$69.95

  
Rush-leaved Star of Bethlehem

Plate 972
Rush-leaved
Star of Bethlehem
(text included)
$69.95

  
Simple-leaved Jasmine?

Plate 980
(Simple-leaved Jasmine?)
$69.95

  
Starry Gardenia?

Plate 1004
(Starry Gardenia?)
$69.95

  

Plate 1007
  

Plate 1023
$69.95

  

Plate 1043
$69.95

  
Rattlesnake Root

Plate 1051
Rattle-Snake-Root
(text included)
$69.95

  
Rattlesnake Root

Plate 1054
The Cinnamon
Evening-Flower
(text included)

  

Plate 1068
$69.95

  
Undulated-leaved Eucomis

Plate 1083
Undulated-leaved Eucomis
(text included)
$69.95

  
Undulated-leaved Eucomis

Plate 1091
Glaucous-leaved Veltheimia
(text included)
$69.95

  

Plate 1102
$69.95

  
Twin-flowered Mimosa

Plate 1121
Twin-flowered Mimosa
(text included)
$69.95

  

Plate 1129
$69.95

  
Sweet-scented Epacris

Plate 1170
Sweet-scented Epacris
(text included)
$69.95

  

Plate 1181
$69.95

  

Plate 1185
$69.95

  

Plate 1199
$69.95

  
East-Indian Damasonium

Plate 1201
East-Indian Damasonium
(text included)
$69.95

  
Long-stemmed Struthiola

Plate 1212
Struthiola Pubescens
Long-stemmed Struthiola
(text included)
$69.95

  

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