The Nodding Renealmia from The Temple of Flora (1807) by Robert John Thornton by Frank Zuidam

The Nodding Renealmia from The Temple of Flora (1807) by Robert John Thornton.

The Temple of Flora, the third and final part of Robert John Thornton's New illustration of the sexual system of Carolus von Linnaeus, is probably the most sumptuous and renowned of all great flower books. It contains thirty-one plates which were produced by a variety of techniques, including aquatint, mezzotint, stipple, and line engraving. The impressions were printed in colour and afterwards finished by hand. During production, most of the plates were altered or added to from time to time, producing a different 'state' in each case; consequently, some plates have as many as four different states.

This is a copy of the original elephant folio edition (measuring a vast c. 56 x 44 cm), of which hardly any two copies are quite the same. It was originally issued to subscribers in parts which later could be bound up. In 1807 it was further published in book form. As well as the plates, it consists of a series of elaborate calligraphic title-pages, verbose descriptions of each plant including appropriate poetry, and explanatory notes.

The cyclamen shown here (Cyclamen persicum) closely resembles the wild forms of the flower found in the Near East, but it does not occur in Persia.