Camellia Journal — Alfred Chandler 1831 Camellieae

In the first half of the nineteenth century, the camellia was the most coveted flower in Britain — a Chinese import that had taken the aristocracy by storm, filling the great glasshouses of the landed gentry with blooms of extraordinary variety and beauty. Alfred Chandler's 1831 Illustrations of the Camellieae captured the craze at its peak, with hand-coloured metal engravings of such luminosity that the printed page seemed almost to glow.

The front cover reproduces Chandler's plate of Camellia japonica 'Anemoniflora' — the Waratah Camellia, introduced from China in the early nineteenth century, its distinctive anemone form with a single row of large outer petals surrounding a dense mounded centre of petaloid structures transformed from stamens, rendered in the deep saturated crimson and luminous dark green that made the Camellieae the finest achievement in Victorian botanical illustration. The back cover presents Camellia japonica 'Eximia' — the name means distinguished in Latin — one of the most prized specimens in Chandler's collection, depicted with the same meticulous hand-coloured engraving technique, its blooms and glossy foliage wrapped around the journal in a full panorama of Victorian camellia splendour.

Product Details

• Format: 5.75 × 8 in (14.6 × 20.3 cm)
• Pages: 150 lined pages (75 sheets)
• Perforated pages — tear out cleanly without damaging the binding
• Paper weight: 90 gsm, suitable for fountain pens and pencils
• Hardcover with matte finish, casewrap sewn binding
• Weight: 400 g (14.1 oz)

Perfect For

• Victorian botanical art collectors and camellia enthusiasts
• Lovers of Japanese camellia culture and East Asian botanical heritage
• Admirers of 19th-century British botanical illustration and hand-coloured engraving
• Those drawn to deep reds, glossy greens, and the refined aesthetics of Victorian garden culture
• Students and researchers of Victorian horticulture and the history of plant hunting
• Thoughtful gifts for gardeners, botanists, and lovers of rare illustrated books

Read more: The Camellia Craze: How a Chinese Flower Conquered the Victorian Garden