THE BOTANICAL REGISTER 
LAUNCHED BY SYDENHAM EDWARDS, CONTINUED BY JAMES RIDGWAY
ILLUSTRATIONS AND ENGRAVINGS BY SYDENHAM EDWARDS (1815 - 1819)
 THEREAFTER BY SARAH ANN DRAKE AND S. WATTS AS THE "NEW SERIES", LONDON ( TO 1847)
COLOURED AND PRINTED BY JAMES RIDGWAY.

Sydenham Edwards was regarded by his peers as being the finest engraver of his day, specialising in finely detailed and artistic compositions. His supremacy was short-lived however, as by 1820 John Curtis had deservedly laid claim to that accolade.

Initially, Edwards worked with William Curtis (no relation to John Curtis) on the Botanical Magazine, they were both fine illustrators but Curtis's successor (from 1799), John Sims insistence on being the "top dog" rankled with Edwards sufficiently for him to have a show-down and leave Sims in 1814 when a dozen of his plates were incorrectly attributed to another engraver, James Sowerby.

Edwards immediately set up his Botanical Register in direct competition with Sims. The Botanical Magazine and The Botanical Register remained thereafter as the most deadly of rivals. This rivalry was good for both publications since the fierce competition drove them both to produce ever higher standards of illustration and editorial. However, the competition also forced up the wages demanded by the best colourists to the extent that the publishers' margins were squeezed to almost suicidal levels. Upon Edward's death in 1819, James Ridgway took over the editorship of The Botanical Register handing over to John Lindley in 1829. Publication ceased in 1847 due to the ever rising costs, especially of good quality paper, and the reluctance of any one to take on the burden of publishing such an expensive magazine for such small returns. The Botanical Magazine on the other hand, freed of its only real competition, prospered and continues right up to the present day (as Curtis's Botanical Magazine)

ENGLISH BOTANY
or COLOURED PLATES OF BRITISH PLANTS ( “SOWERBY'S BOTANY" )
by JAMES Sowerby (1757 - 1822).
PLATES BY THE AUTHOR,  JOHN EDWARD SOWERBY,  J. De. C. Sowerby F.L.S.  &  J. W. Salter F.L.S.
published in parts by THE AUTHOR  LONDON 1790 - 1814.  TWO FURTHER EDITIONS FOLLOWED.

Published in parts over 24 years eventually to comprise 36 volumes with around 2,600 hand-coloured engravings covering most of the better known wild plants of Great Britain. James Sowerby was responsible for the illustrations. The accompanying brief text was written by Sir James E. Smith. The full original title with typical 18th Century gush, was English Botany or, Coloured Figures of British Plants, with their Essential Characters, Synonyms and Places of Growth. This was very quickly shortened in common parlance firstly to "English Botany" and then to "Sowerby's Botany" in order to distinguish it from later, similar works by William Curtis and Sydenham Edwards (see above).

Whilst extensive, the work was never intended to be comprehensive. The descriptions given were accurate and systematic with Latin and English descriptions. The finest edition was undoubtedly the third which retained the superb, hand-coloured Sowerby illustrations but with vastly improved descriptions mainly by John T. Boswell Syme. The illustrations and text were extremely detailed allowing the reader to identify, without risk of confusion, any of the plants illustrated.

In its time, Sowerby's Botany was the considered to be the most comprehensive description of British flora readily accessible to both professional and amateur botanists alike. An idea of the quality of the publication and particularly the illustrations, can easily be realised by reference to the following, recently published work that includes the third edition Boswell Syme text and the fully restored Sowerby illustrations: