XVIU P R E F A C E. 



coloured plates, was printed, I know not precisely 

 at wdiat period, by John Earl of Bute, a nobleman 

 greatly devoted to botanical studies, some of whose 

 letters to the late Mr. Peter CoUinson may be seen 

 in the " Linnaean Correspondence" above mentioned, 

 vol. i. 26 — 36. His Lordship's book being intended 

 for the use of his particular friends only, chiefly 

 ladies, no more than twelve copies were printed, and 

 it therefore can hardly be thought a just subject of 

 criticism. Apelles remarked that an ordinary artist 

 could more readily paint Helen rich than handsome ; 

 so it is easier to make a rare book than a good one. 



Various partial, or local. Floras have at different 

 times appeared in Britain, from the first promulga- 

 tion of the Linnaean system to the present day. 

 These it is not necessary to particularize here. 

 They will be occasionally referred to in the body of 

 the work, and their titles are given in the List of 

 Authors at the end of this Preface. 



One great national work however, by its title of 

 Flora Londinensis limited to the neighbourhood of 

 the metropolis, must nevertheless here be noticed; 

 for though not yet completed, it has admitted the 

 vegetable productions of several remote parts of 

 Britain. Its author, the late Mr. William Curtis, 

 has been extensively known by his popular and 

 very useful Botanical Magazine. But the Flora 

 Londinensis y a work of great practical observation 

 and experience, ranks, as I have elsewhere ob- 

 served'^, " independent of its excellent figures, next 



* Tr. of Linn. Soc. vol. iv. ^280. 



