Flora's Dictionary
- Hand colored lithographed additional title, hand colored lithographed dedication leaf and 56 hand colored lithographed plates. 1
- Baltimore: Fielding Lucas, Jr., 1837
Baltimore: Fielding Lucas, Jr., 1837. First edition. Hand colored lithographed additional title, hand colored lithographed dedication leaf and 56 hand colored lithographed plates. 136, 87pp. 4to. Contemporary black morocco gilt extra. Minor foxing, early owner's inscription on the dedication leaf effaced, otherwise a lovely example. First edition. Hand colored lithographed additional title, hand colored lithographed dedication leaf and 56 hand colored lithographed plates. 136, 87pp. 4to. An attractive example of the first book to broadly popularize the concept of a language of flowers for American readers, here in a lovely contemporary morocco gilt extra binding. An undated issue, but circa 1837 printing of this pioneering color plate book.
"One of the most popular genres of color plate books in the antebellum period were those devoted to the sentiments associated with flowers. Color illustrations of flowers were accompanied by a text which guided the reader through the hidden meanings of different blooms, with quotations and poetry appropriate to each. This is a pioneering example of the type, issued by the publisher of many early books with color, Fielding Lucas of Baltimore" (Reese).
Elizabeth Washington Gamble Wirt (1784-1857) began working on a dictionary of flowers solely for the entertainment of her family and friends, however they encouraged her to publish it. The first edition appeared in 1829 with the authorship attributed only to "a Lady." The book was exceedingly popular, going through several reprintings until 1835, when Wirt was finally credited as the author under the byline "Mrs. E.W. Wirt of Virginia" (her husband, William, was U.S. Attorney General). Early editions had no illustrations apart from the black-and-white wood-engraved borders on text pages (still present in this edition), but starting in 1837, copies were issued with varying numbers of colored plates (here with the maximum number of fifty-eight total) attributed on the illustrated title as by Miss Ann Smith.
Wirt's book was one of the first two floriographical dictionaries in early 19th-century America; the other was Dorothea Dix's The Garland of Flora (1829). Dix 's work was less comprehensive and did not sell well, but Flora's Dictionary was "a phenomenal success" (Seaton, p.85). Wirt distinguished herself with a much greater concern for the scientific aspects of her subject, including in-depth botanical notes in addition to exceptionally attractive images. "The arrangements of the flowers are beautifully balanced and the coloring is brilliant" (Bennett).
Although Bennett notes that the first edition includes the date of 1837 on the letterpress title, this example, and others we have handled, has the title page undated. However, the copyright date is indeed 1837 and the plates are on paper watermarked KING (i.e. York County, PA papermaker George King; see Gravell 437). A later edition of 1855, the only published after the first edition, includes an entirely different additional title, a copyright dated 1855 and the plates are on different paper stock.
A beautifully-colored example of a popular 19th-century American color plate book, here in an elaborate full morocco gilt binding. Sabin 104868; McGrath, p.36; Bennett, p.115; Reese, Stamped with a National Character 52. Beverly Seaton, The Language of Flowers (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012)
"One of the most popular genres of color plate books in the antebellum period were those devoted to the sentiments associated with flowers. Color illustrations of flowers were accompanied by a text which guided the reader through the hidden meanings of different blooms, with quotations and poetry appropriate to each. This is a pioneering example of the type, issued by the publisher of many early books with color, Fielding Lucas of Baltimore" (Reese).
Elizabeth Washington Gamble Wirt (1784-1857) began working on a dictionary of flowers solely for the entertainment of her family and friends, however they encouraged her to publish it. The first edition appeared in 1829 with the authorship attributed only to "a Lady." The book was exceedingly popular, going through several reprintings until 1835, when Wirt was finally credited as the author under the byline "Mrs. E.W. Wirt of Virginia" (her husband, William, was U.S. Attorney General). Early editions had no illustrations apart from the black-and-white wood-engraved borders on text pages (still present in this edition), but starting in 1837, copies were issued with varying numbers of colored plates (here with the maximum number of fifty-eight total) attributed on the illustrated title as by Miss Ann Smith.
Wirt's book was one of the first two floriographical dictionaries in early 19th-century America; the other was Dorothea Dix's The Garland of Flora (1829). Dix 's work was less comprehensive and did not sell well, but Flora's Dictionary was "a phenomenal success" (Seaton, p.85). Wirt distinguished herself with a much greater concern for the scientific aspects of her subject, including in-depth botanical notes in addition to exceptionally attractive images. "The arrangements of the flowers are beautifully balanced and the coloring is brilliant" (Bennett).
Although Bennett notes that the first edition includes the date of 1837 on the letterpress title, this example, and others we have handled, has the title page undated. However, the copyright date is indeed 1837 and the plates are on paper watermarked KING (i.e. York County, PA papermaker George King; see Gravell 437). A later edition of 1855, the only published after the first edition, includes an entirely different additional title, a copyright dated 1855 and the plates are on different paper stock.
A beautifully-colored example of a popular 19th-century American color plate book, here in an elaborate full morocco gilt binding. Sabin 104868; McGrath, p.36; Bennett, p.115; Reese, Stamped with a National Character 52. Beverly Seaton, The Language of Flowers (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012)