Charlecote Park From the Library - Len Mullenger Flora Londinensis William Curtis As the title implies this book described the flora in and around London. It was initially published by William Curtis in six volumes between 1775 and 1798. Curtis was Head Gardener (Praefectus Horti) at the Chelsea Physic Garden before establishing his own London Botanic Garden. The Flora was illustrated by the botanical artists James Sowerby, Sydenham Edwards and William Kilburn. It was not written as a scientific document but designed to appeal to members of the public. Thus plants were not only identified by latinized binomials but also by the common names that would be recognized by the public. This book was much earlier than Paxton's Botany discussed in an earlier article which was produced between 1834-1839, a half century later. However the Flora Londinensis was not a success, selling only 300 copies. Curtis went on to produce from 1787 the Botanical Magazine which was a financial success and there are 26 volumes in the Charlecote library. This is regarded as the premier journal in early botanical illustration. This continues to be published today by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as Curtis's Botanical Magazine. The original Flora Londinensis continued to be worked on by William J Hooker and George Graves who published their edition between 1817 and 1828. Hooker expanded the selection of illustrated plants to include those from the rest of the UK. This is what we hold in the Charlecote Library in five volumes published by Henry Bohn in 1817 There were two famous botanical Hookers. William J Hooker (1785-1865) was the father and was Professor of Botany at Glasgow University where he was a very popular lecturer and later was the first director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in 1841. He was contemporary with Joseph Banks who went on Captain Cook's first great voyage. Over 80 species of plant have a banksian epithet, e.g. Hooker’s Orchid Platanthera hookeri. Hooker expanded Kew Gardens from 10 acres to 75 acres and an arboretum of 270 acres. When he died in 1865 he was succeeded at Kew by his Son Joseph Dalton Hooker who became one of our greatest botanists and great friend of Darwin. He also went on an expedition to the Antarctic on HMS Erebus. He later went on expeditions to the Himalayas, India, Palestine, Morroco and in 1877 the United States. In 1844 Darwin mentioned to Hooker his ideas on the transmutation of species and natural selection and was of great support to Darwin in the development of his theories which were eventually published in On the Origin of Species. There is a copy of the 4th edition of that book in the Charlecote library too. Further illustrations http://www.panteek.com/curtisflora/index.htm Ranunculus acris (Upright Meadow Crowfoot) Senecio crucifolius (Hoary Ragwort) see also Plant Explorers Joseph Hooker Len Mullenger is a Sunday volunteer guide. Any comments are welcome and can be sent to len@musicweb-international.com Return to Index page