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Henry Evans (1918–1990) was an American writer, an antiquarian bookseller, a hand-press printer, and, most notably, a printmaker of botanical portraiture.

Early Life
Born and reared in Superior, Wisconsin, Henry moved to San Francisco, where two older brothers and a sister were settled. He attended the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco State, studying history and philosophy. After graduating from college, he taught school for a short time, and then went into the antiquarian book business with one of his brothers. Later, he founded his own book business with a bookstore under the sign of H. H. Evans at 3319 Sacramento Street and then with H. H. Evans—Books at 1167 Sutter Street in the mid-1940s. He was one of the original members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA). He acquired his Washington Hand Press in 1949, and his first printed book was A Contribution Toward a Check List of Bibliographies of the American West (1950). First Duet, a collaboration with Patricia Healey Evans, followed shortly thereafter. In the 1950s, he moved his business to Montgomery Street (the “Monkey Block,” now the site of the Transamerica Pyramid), where it became the Porpoise Bookshop and Gallery. Later, he moved the store to 308 Clement Street. By 1952, Henry had produced numerous broadsides, six major projects, and his first art portfolio. He printed the work of poets and artists who later achieved renown. From 1949 to 1962, fifty-two major pieces were produced, along with book catalogs, ink flyers, and other ephemera. Henry began creating his own linocuts (linoleum block prints) in the 1950s and began signing them in 1958. In 1964, he became a full-time artist, and the sign on the storefront read: “Henry Evans—Printmaker.” Henry was a self-taught artist, printer, and botanist, and he developed a unique style and technique. His work is admired by art lovers and naturalists alike, and it reveals a style intriguingly personal and botanically faithful, unerring in its feeling for rhythm and design. During his career, he produced more than 1400 linoleum block prints and was accorded more than 250 one-man shows in many countries around the world and in almost every state in the union. Best known for his iconic prints of California poppies, Henry worked with living plants, depicting them at their actual size and mixing his own inks in order to make the best match with what he saw in nature. Henry Evans was also an accomplished writer of essays. In 1977, he received a Commonwealth Club Silver Medal for Botanical Prints: with Excerpts from the Artist’s Notebooks. He was also the creator of numerous botanical portfolios, the accompanying texts for which he also wrote and then set the type by hand. These include The State Flowers of the United States (1972) and California Native Wildflowers (1985), a collaboration with his wife, Marsha Onomiya Evans. A new, expanded edition of Botanical Prints was published in 2010 by Counterpoint in Berkeley, California.

List of Books
San Francisco Books: Bohemian San Francisco (1955) Curious Lore of San Francisco's Chinatown (1955) San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf (1957)

Children's Books: Jump Rope Rhymes (1954) Sticks and Stones (1960)

Other projects: Champaign and Shoes (1962)