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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.

Opposite-leaved Sedum
Plate 1807
Opposite-leaved Sedum
(text included)
$69.95

Glaucous-leaved Smilax
Plate 1846
Glaucous-leaved Smilax
(text included)
$69.95


Plate 1859
$69.95

Jasmine
Plate 1889
(Syrian Jasmine?)
$69.95

Nightshade?
Plate 1928
(Nightshade?)
$69.95

Purslane-leaved Stone-Crop
Plate 1977
Purslane-leaved
Stone-Crop
(text included)
$69.95

Sulphur-coloured Heath
Plate 1984
Sulphur-coloured Heath
(text included)
$69.95


Plate 2010
[Boneset, Eupatorium perfoliatum?]
$69.95


Plate 2038
$69.95

Butcher's Broom?
Plate 2049
(Butcher's Broom?)
$69.95


Plate 2309
$69.95


Plate 2440
$69.95

Lavender-scented Marjoram
Plate 2605
Lavender-scented Marjoram
(text included)
$69.95


Plate 2726
$69.95


Plate 2845
$69.95

Blood-stained Billbergia
Plate 2892
Blood-stained Billbergia
(text included)
$69.95


Plate 2918
$69.95


Plate 2921
$69.95


Plate 2929
Alaternus-leaved Cestrum
(text included)
$69.95

 

Hypnum-like Andromeda
Plate 2936
Hypnum-like Andromeda
(text included)

Habenaria?
Plate 2947
Habenaria?
$69.95

Long-tailed Habenaria
Plate 2957
Long-tailed Habenaria
(text included)
$69.95

Canadian Yellow-root
Plate 3019
Canadian Yellow-root
(text included)
$69.95

Mastick Tree?
Plate 1967
Mastick Tree?
(no text)
$69.95

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click here for The Botanical Magazine fold-out "Double" prints

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