Flora Londinensis facts for kids
William Curtis, Flora Londinensis, 1770, title page
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| Author | William Curtis |
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| Illustrator | James Sowerby, et al. |
| Country | England |
| Series | Six volumes |
| Subject | Botany |
| Publisher | William Curtis, London |
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Publication date
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1777–1798 |
| Media type | Fascicles with plates |
| Followed by | 'The Botanical Magazine |
Flora Londinensis is a very large book that describes the wild plants found around London, England, in the mid-1700s. This amazing book was published by William Curtis in six big volumes. It included beautiful hand-colored pictures of plants, drawn by talented botanical artists like James Sowerby, Sydenham Edwards, and William Kilburn.
Contents
What is Flora Londinensis?
Flora Londinensis means "London Plants." The full name of the book was very long! It basically meant: "Pictures and descriptions of wild plants that grow around London, telling you where they grow and when they flower. It also gives their names from Carl Linnaeus and other authors, with a detailed description in Latin and English. Plus, it tells you how to use these plants in medicine, farming, and other ways."
A Book for Everyone
The first part of the book came out in 1777, and the last part, with a title page and index, was published in 1798. For each plant, the book gave its scientific name (like a first and last name for plants), along with common names.
Before Flora Londinensis, most books about British plants were made for scientists, pharmacists, or people who used herbs. But William Curtis wanted Flora Londinensis to be for everyone! The lovely pictures also helped people identify different plant species.
Who was William Curtis?
William Curtis was a plant expert, also known as a botanist. He was the director of the Chelsea Physic Garden, a famous garden in London where plants were studied. Even though he knew a lot about plants from all over the world, Flora Londinensis focused on the plants he knew best: the flowering plants found within about 10 miles of London.
Curtis hired several artists to create the hand-colored pictures for the book. He wrote all the descriptions himself and managed the publishing and sales. The book was released in parts, called fascicles, with each part containing six pictures. Over time, the book ended up including many plants found across southern England.
The Book's Success
The first volume of Flora Londinensis had a list of 321 people who bought 331 copies of the complete book. You could also buy the pictures separately, either colored or plain. This was a lot of sales for such an expensive and high-quality book! It showed how much people respected William Curtis.
Curtis later published The Botanical Magazine, which became even more successful. James Sowerby, who helped with Flora Londinensis and drew over 70 of its pictures, went on to create his own natural history books. His most famous work was English Botany, a huge 36-volume series published over 23 years, starting in 1790.
Another artist, William Hooker (not to be confused with Sir William Jackson Hooker), added to the work of Flora Londinensis. From 1805 to 1807, he published The Paradisus Londinensis, which featured colored pictures of plants grown near London.
Images for kids
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Tormentilla officinalis
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Scolopendrium vulgare
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See also
In Spanish: Flora Londinensis para niños
