Conservation appeal:

John Latham’s A general history of birds

A General History of Birds is often considered to be one of the greatest ornithological books ever published. It was issued in ten volumes between 1821 and 1828, and contains 193 hand-coloured copperplate engravings of unsurpassed beauty. These plates were personally designed, etched and coloured by the English physician, naturalist and author, John Latham (1740-1837), who, having been one of the first naturalists to examine specimens of Australian birds and who was responsible for naming many of them, is often acknowledged as being the “grandfather” of Australian ornithology.

The Portico is lucky enough to hold a first edition set of this seminal work. Unfortunately, however, over the years the individual bindings have deteriorated, and each volume has become increasingly fragile. To ensure it can continue to be used by future generations, it is now in need of urgent conservation and preservation work.

We are currently looking for individuals to sponsor the rebinding of this set. The sympathetic rebinding of each individual volume within the set will cost approximately £135, and in return for your support a permanent bookplate will be placed within your chosen volume(s), recording your name, date, and a dedication of your choice.

If you are interested in sponsoring this work and helping to restore it to its former glory, please contact a member of staff for further details.

The lost art of nature printing: The ferns of Great Britain and Ireland

Thomas Moore and Henry Bradbury's The ferns of Great Britain and Ireland was first published in 1855. Containing 51 plates detailing all of the varieties of fern found within the British Isles, it was the first book within Great Britain to be published using the pioneering process of nature printing. The technique involved pressing a specimen leaf onto a thin, soft lead plate to create a very finely detailed intaglio impression. These impressions were then electroplated to form a printing plate, with details then being coloured by hand. The resulting images were particularly vibrant and realistic, being slightly raised off the page as if they were in fact real pressed specimens of the plants. 

Bradbury had studied the process whilst at the Imperial Printing Office in Vienna, where Alois Auer, the director of the office, and his associate, Andreas Worring, had first patented the process in 1852. On his return to London Bradbury patented his own improved version of the process, without crediting Auer. The resulting controversy that developed between the two men was said to have led to Bradbury's suicide at the age of 29. 

Despite a high level of original interest, nature printing was used very little in any subsequent English works. Whilst Bradbury and Auer believed the technique to be a major advance in printing, it could not be employed on an extensive range of plants and other subjects, as they had to be largely two dimensional in nature in order to be reproduced successfully.