Woodsia Ilvensis. [Oblong woodsia]

Fine c.19th botanical engraving of a fern by Edward Joseph Lowe.

Lowe was a botanist and meteorologist whose private income allowed him to pursue his passionate interest in ferns at a time when there was also widespread public interest in the collecting and growing of the family: ‘ferneries’ were a feature of many a fashionable garden.

The beautiful plates were produced using a complicated printing process which allowed for the accurate alignment of multiple wood-engraved blocks to produce crisp clear outlines and luminous colours. They are the work of the master of this process: Benjamin Fawcett (1808-1893), working from originals by his long-time employee Alexander Francis Lydon (1836-1917).

From Lowe’s, Our Native Ferns.

Reference: Nissen: 1243, p.114