E.J. Lowe (November 11, 1825 – March 10, 1900) was born in Highfield House, Nottinghamshire. He was the son of Alfred J. Lowe who was a member of many local and national astronomical societies and was particularly interested in astronomy and meteorology. Lowe became a renowned English astronomer, meteorologist, and botanist. Following the scientific footsteps of his father, he began his scientific observations at the age of 15. He was fascinated with ferns and this led him to paint and study them in detail. He published papers on a wide variety of subjects, including luminous meteors, meteorology, sunspots, meteorological observations during the 1860 eclipse (near Santander), the zodiacal light, conchology, grasses, ferns, and other plants. Lowe published “Ferns: British and Exotic,” his most famous work which included eight brilliantly illustrated volumes.
His knowledge of crossing ferns is portrayed in these eight volumes published in 1856 by Groombridge and Sons. The bookplates were engraved by Benjamin Fawcett and drawn by A.F. Lydon. He also published six others major books and articles for other periodicals. Lowe used chromolithography a technique that was invented around 1830. It was the first multicolor printing technique. Prior to chromolithography prints were colored by hand. But with this technique, a printing stone was used for each color application. It required extreme precision to ensure proper registration and alignment for each print. Lowe was the inventor of the dry powder test for ozone in the atmosphere. His art has found its way into many collections allover he world, and can be found in many scientific institutions.
