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William Curtis: Flora Londinensis (1746-1799)
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 where he grew six thousand species of plants. But his interest was in British wild flowers and backed by Lord Bute he embarked of Flora Londinensis 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. It took him 10 years to produce two volumes which almost bankrupted him. The public did not want to pay large sums of money for illustrations of weeds. They were much more willing to buy pictures of the exotic plants they might grow in their gardens which led to the production of the Botanical Magazine which Curtis said brought him "pudding" whereas Flora Londinensis had only brought him praise. William Curtis (1746 - 1799) was responsible for England's three finest series of late eighteenth century botanical art "Flora Londinensis" (1777 - 1798) , Assistant Plates to the "Materia Medica" (1786) and the still surviving publication, "Botanical Magazine" (founded by him in 1787), He also established famous botanical gardens at Lambeth and Brompton.