Barton, William P.C.:

$12,500 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

A FLORA OF NORTH AMERICA. ILLUSTRATED BY COLOURED FIGURES, DRAWN FROM NATURE. An important American flora, "magnificently illustrated" (DAB) with "plates [that] are clear, soft and lovely" (Bennett). The work includes the first successful use of stipple engraving in the United States. William P.C. Barton (1786–1856) was a naval surgeon and medical botanist who became administrator of the U.S. Navy's hospital system. The nephew of Benjamin Smith Barton, he studied medicine under his uncle at the University of Pennsylvania and was recommended for a position in the navy by Benjamin Rush in 1809. "In 1815 Barton was chosen professor of botany at the University of Pennsylvania, charming many with his light-hearted herborizing trips along the Schuykill [sic] and his lectures which were, contrary to bookish times, demonstrated in his well-stocked conservatories" - DAB. Though works such as the present set and other botanicals secured Barton a legacy as the most noteworthy American botanist of his day, he also made significant contributions to the fields of medicine and sanitation.In addition to its significance as a botanical work, Barton's Flora is also one of the most important early color plate books produced entirely in the United States. "The plates were made by [amongst others] Cornelius Tiebout, the first really skilled engraver born in the United States, although he trained in London for two years in the 1790s to perfect his technique" - Reese. Aside from Tiebout, artists in

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