Marnock’s Publishing Career

Marnock had started his publishing career working with Richard Deakin, F.R.C.S.E., an eminent botanist. Together they compiled the initial volume of Florigraphia Britannica in September 1835. Marnock then decided to produce the Floricultural Magazine which was first issued 1 June 1836 and published monthly priced at 6d. 

He worked with local publisher, George Ridge, who embraced modern methods of printing and typesetting to produce the weekly Sheffield Telegraph and other books. The metal presses were able to produce many more sheets per hour. Marnock’s magazine was printed as Octavo, a size of page that results from folding each printed sheet into eight leaves. The engraving featuring the fountain and pavilions on Plate 2, Volume 1 was created by Charles Gray. The beautiful floral illustrations were the result of copper-plate engravings carried out in Sheffield by John Felley Parkin and Joshua Parkin, these were then hand-coloured by their staff, likely to include many women. After Marnock moved to London this task was taken over by the botanical illustrator James Andrews. The ‘great expense incurred in the magazine’s preparation’ made it impossible to continue for long and the last edition was issued in April 1842. 

In 1838 Marnock also produced a very informative ‘Catalogue Descriptive and Historical of some of the Rare or Otherwise Interesting Plants, now cultivated in the Sheffield Botanical Gardens.’ It lists almost 250 specimens and includes many of the newly introduced plants from many parts of the world. He was at the forefront of learning and developed the Gardens into a nationally popular and famous venue.

You can read the first two volumes of the Floricultural Magazine online here

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