HENDERSON, Peter Charles. The Seasons, or Flower Garden: being a selection of the most beautiful flowers that blossom at the four seasons of the year, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. The whole carefully drawn from nature. With a description of each flower. Together with: a Treatise: or, instructions for drawing and painting flowers, with general observations on the art. A very good clean copy bound in contemporary dark red goatskin with ornate red gilt morocco label on the upper linen cloth board. Expertly rebacked in matching style, with triple gilt bands, and gilt devices and lettering to the spine. New end-papers and paste-downs. Some of the imprints are visible at the lower margin, but others have been cropped when originally bound. Published as the act directs, by R. Ackermann, Repository of Arts, Strand. Printed by G. Hayden, Brydges Street, Covent Garden., 1806-1807. 4to . Hand-coloured frontispiece dated April 1 st 1806, [2]pp., printed title-page dated 1806, verso blank. [1-2] second printed title–page (verso blank), [3]-4 introduction, [5-6] contents, [7-8] explanation of terms, [9-10] half-title ‘Spring’, [11-12]pp descriptive text., 6 hand-coloured plates (undated). [1-2] half-title ‘Summer’(verso blank) , [3]-5, [-6]pp descriptive text., 6 hand-coloured plates (undated). [1-2] half-title ‘Autumn’ (verso blank), [3]-5, [-6]pp descriptive text., 6 hand-coloured plates (two dated Oct 15 th 1806), plus one original mounted watercolour. [1-2] half-title ‘Winter’ (verso blank), [3]-5, [-6]pp descriptive text., 6 hand-coloured plates (three dated Jan 1 st 1807). [1-2] half-title ‘Treatise...’ (Verso blank), [3-4] printed title-page ‘A Treatise....’ (Verso blank), [5]-28pp descriptive text. Peter Charles Henderson (fl. 1791-1829) was one of the most important artists for Robert Thornton's famous The Temple of Flora, contributing 14 of the 28 plates for that work; the greatest illustrated botanical set ever published in Britain for its outstanding aesthetic and imaginative qualities. “The first part of The Seasons is divided by the author into four sections, each one devoted to one season of the year and illustrated with six flowering plants. The plates were aquatinted by G. Hayden and retouched by hand, perhaps by Henderson himself. A frontispiece decorated with an allegorical scene opens the work; it shows Cupid using the point of his arrow, carving the title of the work into a stone. Various flowers can be seen growing at his side, including a convolvulus and some hollyhocks, while in the background is a densely forested landscape. It seems possible that the scene was inspired by the frontispiece ‘Cupid Inspiring the Plants with Love’ (a reference to the sexual reproductive processes of plants) designed by Reinagle in 1800 for The Temple Of Flora. Unlike Thornton’s Temple of Flora, however, this work by Henderson had no great scientific pretensions. The author’s modest aim was to provide some advice on flower painting, accompanied by plates of ‘those flowers which appear to me the most beautiful and useful... to illustrate the Seasons.’ The second part... offers some instruction, aimed primarily at the beginner, on the drawing and painting of flowers.” In his preface Henderson notes that he has given instruction to both young gentlemen and ladies. Ref: L.T. Tomasi. An Oak Spring Flora, 1997. Close examination of this present copy reveals that some text pages are watermarked ‘J. Whatman, 1801’, and ‘Ruse & Turners, 1805, and a number of the plates are watermarked J. Whatman, 1816. One reason for the rarity of such titles is attributable to their original purpose as instruction manuals for drawing - they would have been traced, drawn on &c., and it is known that plates were reprinted by Ackermann over time to meet the need for replacements. Very scarce. Book Auction Records, records only the defective Plesch copy (lacking engraved title-page and frontispiece) in 1975, and 1986; 1990 (lacking frontispiece); 1992 (worn with covers detached); 2007, 2009 (ex-library); 2012 Hesketh copy; 2014 Cleveland Botanical Garden copy, (ex-library and stamped.). Marlborough Rare Books listed a copy in List 25; Charles Traylen sold a copy in 1963; Heywood Hill listed a fine copy in 1990; and an imperfect copy was offered for sale in 1996 (lacking frontispiece).