Robert John Thornton (Born in 1768) was a botanical writer and physician from England. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge and was the son of Bonnell Thornton. He got so much inspired by the lectures on botany by Thomas Martyn and the works of Linnaeus that he decided to switch from the church to medicine. He was employed by Guy's Hospital in London, where he later became a lecturer in medical botany. John Thornton settled and practiced in London after spending some time abroad. He inherited the family fortune in 1797 after the death of both his mother and brother. Determined to surpass the French in printing artistry and the Germans in scholarship, John Thornton planned a book of literary and philosophic distinction, illustrated by some of the Britain’s best painters.
The book was titled The Temple of Flora in homage to the great Swedish naturalist. The edition was completed in 1807 but the first sections appeared in 1799. The Table of Contents has 32 plates of flowers, but John Thornton made up each set with 29 or 32 in varied arrangements. There are also allegorical compositions, portraits and 5 frontispieces. The first plates were engraved in May 1798 by Medland Thomas, from paintings by Reinagle Philip. When he planned the project, he had decided to publish 70 folio-size plates. The costly process of making these prints made John Thornton to be bankrupt when he was just one-third of the way toward his goal. He wanted to get 90 images.
