The Snowdrop: The Temple of Flora

London:: Thornton,, 1811.. Small Folio or Lottery. Very Good Condition with original handcoloring. A scare original mezzotint engraving on wove paper, printed in colors and finished by hand. 30 x 39 cm, 11.75 x 15.25 inches. PM: 128 x 37 cm, 11 1/8 x 14.75 in. There is uniform age toning to the plate, yet the colors are rich and saturated. From the Small Folio, or Lottery, Edition of Dr. Robert Thornton's incomparable work illustrating the Carl Linnaeus' sexual classification system of plants entitled the The Temple of Flora, or Garden of the Botanist, Poet, Painter and Philosopher. The plate was engraved by William Dunkarton after a painting by Abraham Pether (1756-1812). Pether, who contributed this and two other compositions for Dr. Thornton's renowned botanical work; The Temple of Flora, was described as: "extremely versatile- a musical prodigy, artist, philosopher and inventor of mechanical gadgets. His passion for painting nocturnal scenes earned him the sobriquet of "Moonlight Pether," and his "astronomical accuracy" was above criticism. (Wilfrid Blunt. The Art of Botanical Illustration). In this composition Pether sets the white Snowdrops, along with yellow and blue Crocus in a foreboding wintery landscape as the true heralds of spring. (Great Flower Books, Dunthorne 302.) Matted in Rag Board