The Frampton Flora: The Secrets of Frampton Court Gardens

London: Quercus, 2007. Book. Fine. Hardcover. Revised Edition. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. 14 5/8" x 10 1/8", 208 pages, illustrated throughout in colour, many illustrations full-page; bibliography, simulated marbled paper at endpapers. "The Frampton Flora" documents a beautiful collection of Victorian botanical paintings discovered in the attic of Frampton Court in Gloucestershire over a century after they were created. First published over twenty years ago, this revised, redesigned and updated edition of a classic bestseller includes new paintings that have come to light since the original discovery. Between 1828 and 1851 sisters Elizabeth, Charlotte, Catherine and Mary Anne Clifford and their aunts Charlotte Anne, Catherine Elizabeth and Rosamond accumulated a portfolio of over 300 exquisite watercolours of the wild flowers of Frampton and the surrounding area. The paintings are bold, exactly observed, and beautifully and skilfully executed. Although many of the flowers were sketched in the field, the watercolours were perfected at home and captioned in ink with the plant's Linnaean family as well as their common names. Richard Mabey describes not only the paintings and the family, but relates their work to the rich flora of the woodlands, grasslands, wetlands, gardens and fields of England in the mid-nineteenth century. Hb, fine in very good dw, an impressive book. .