Elegant Erica vestita purpurea. Henry Andrews Heath engraving c1795.

by Andrews, Henry

ERICA 18th century antique print by Henry Andrews.

Henry Cranke Andrews (c1770-1830) was an English naturalist, botanical artist, engraver, colourist and publisher who also taught private students to draw and etch from nature. He lived in Knightsbridge and married Anne Kennedy, the daughter of Hammersmith nurseryman, John Kennedy, who assisted Andrews in describing the plants he illustrated.

Coloured Engravings of Heaths by Henry Andrews, were each meticulously engraved by him onto copper plates, printed onto hand-made paper, and each coloured by hand "from living plants only" - illustrating all the known genus of Erica from South Africa. They were published in London between 1794 and 1830 and resulted in what was dubbed "Erica mania" as the plants and their illustrations were introduced to the British public.