The Superb Lily, from The Temple of Flora

The consummate mezzotint engraver Richard Earlom produced this large-scale mixed-media print of the Superb Lily (seen here in the second of four substantially different states) around 1799. The image was intended to be included in botanist Richard John Thornton’s grand publication of over life-sized prints of 70 species of flora, celebrating Carl Linnaeus’s 1735 classification system. By 1810, Thornton issued an apology to his neglected subscribers and printed extra impressions for an 1811 lottery. Despite his efforts to raise money—including the 1812 reduced-scale quarto edition of the publication—Thornton had difficulty ameliorating his financial situation. Nonetheless, the 33 plates completed at full scale remain absolute masterpieces.