Antique print of Different Leaf Shapes - great modern artwork! c1816

by Green, Thomas

A Collection of 36 different Simple Leaf Shapes, and 14 Compound Leaves. Botanical engraving by W. Swift for Thomas Green's Herball. It is a great companion engraving to the previous one - also of Leaf Shapes.

Rare original stippled copperplate engraving from Green's Universal Herbal - The Universal Herbal, or, Botanical, Medical and Agricultural Dictionary by Thomas Green, published by Nuttall, Fisher & Dixon, Liverpool, England in 1817.

This important work contained all the known plants in the World, each arranged according to the Linnaean system, and specified the Uses to which they are or may be applied, whether as Food, as Medicine, or in the Arts and Manufacture. The copperplate engravings produced for this work were some of the finest and most detailed botanical specimens engraved in the early part of the 19th century. 

The fine hand-colour, is early, but not from the time of publication. It certainly adds to the decorativeness of the engraving. Size of the engraving is 25 x 21 cm (10 x 8.5 inches).