Erica viscaria. Henry Andrews Coloured Engravings of Heaths, c1806.

by Andrews, Henry

18thC antique print. Andrews' Erica etching with dissections.

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 Ann Kennedy, the daughter of Hammersmith botanical nurseryman John Kennedy, who assisted Andrews in describing the plants he illustrated.

Andrews meticulously engraved his Coloured Engravings of Heaths onto copper plates, printed them onto hand-made paper, and coloured each 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.

This is a stunnning engraving. This image does not do it justice. Page size is 41cm x 25cm (16 x 9 3/4 inches)