Spotted Aloe

This originally hand-colored engraving is from William Curtis’s The Botanical Magazine; or, Flower-Garden displayed: in which the most ornamental foreign plants, cultivated in the open ground, the green-house, and the stove, are accurately represented in their natural colours… The work was published between 1787 and 1814 in London by S. Couchman.

William Curtis (1746-1799) was a famous English botanist. He was determined to produce a scientifically accurate journal, and so took care that artists used live specimens for reference. Each plate features a meticulously drawn specimen with an accompanying descriptive text for each. The first 70 volumes (1787-mid1800s) were printed using copper etching and then finished with watercolor added by hand.

Commonly referred to as Curtis’ Botanical Magazine, this prolific periodical was first published in 1787 and is still in publication today by the Kew Gardens. “It is, indeed, the oldest current scientific periodical of its kind with coloured illustrations in the world, and in the beauty of production and high standard of its contributions it can claim a unique place” (Henry II, p. 302)