Flora: a list
Rodger Friedman
Rodger Friedman
Antiquarian Books
116 Pinehurst Avenue
New York, NY 10033
212/ 923 7800, ext. 2421
Rod...@Delphi.Com
1. ALPINE FLOWERS. New York and Toronto: Iris Books/Oxford
University Press, 1945.
4to; 11p. and 18 color plates. Full cloth in d/j, (d/j with color plate
tipped on). Small area dampstain on front board, d/j/, else fine.
Edition produced by Iris Verlag; Berne, and printed by H. Zbinden;
color plates after watercolors by Paul A. Robert. $45
Objects of cult devotion since ancient times (see Ovid, Fasti, 5.315
ff.), an alpine flower subculture flourishes still with annual flower
festivals and a small industry of field guides and botanical prints for
devotees. Paul Robert's skillfully printed watercolor illustrations
represent a devotional offering full of early postwar affirmation of
nature. Introduction by Prof. Carl Schroeter.
2. CURTIS'S BOTANICAL MAGAZINE OR FLOWER-GARDEN
DISPLAYED ... Vols 21 and 22. Ed. John Sims. London: Stephen
Couchman, 1805.
8vo (23 cm.); 2 vols in one, entries numbered 787-880; 94 hand-colored
engravings, two folding. Modern half morocco, top edge gilt. Near
fine, with only very light foxing not affecting plates. Rare in this
condition. $2500
All plates in these issues of the Botanical Magazine are by Sydenham T.
Edwards (1769-1816), who was, according to Blunt, "Curtis's own
creation and, until the latter's death in 1799, his inseparable
companion." Curtis had recognized Edwards as a boy prodigy, and had
him brought to London from Wales for instruction. His first work
appeared in the second number of Curtis's Botanical Magazine, and for
the next 27 years, through the journal's golden age, almost all the
drawings in it were his. Edwards eventually launched a rival journal.
Among the 94 plates included here are several lilies (including the
famous Egyptian water Lily), the Scotch Crocus and the Dwarf Tulip.
See Great Flower Books (1990) 156; Nissen BBI 2350; Blunt Ch. 16.;
Desmond, Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists,
206.
3. Brod, Fritzi. FLOWERS IN NATURE AND DESIGN. New York:
Stephen Daye Press, 1947.
Folio (40 cm.); [2] leaves, 24 plates, [12] color plates, several with
glassine color overlays. Decorated cloth in d/j. $85
Flowers in Nature and Design consists of about 250 cuts illustrating
elements of floral patterns by the Czech-American designer Fritzi Brod.
Each cut presents an analysis and stylization of a common wild flower
for use in various realms of decorative arts and applied design. The
book is itself an unusual example of design: the color separations are
articulated on transparent glassine leaves, making it possible to view
their constituent parts.
4. Davids, Arlette. ROCK PLANTS. Ed. Andre Gloeckner; preface
by Henry de Montherlant, trans. S.P. Skipwith. London, Paris, New
York: Hyperion Press, 1939.
Folio (36 cm.); [3] leaves, 40 color plates (each with letterpress
overleaf). [1] leaf. Full cloth in d/j. Blocks engraved by Les Arts
Photographiques Appliqu_s; plates printed by L. Delaporte, text by G.
Desgrandchamps, binding by Joseph Taupin. $65
5. Davids, Arlette. TULIPS, HYACINTHS, NARCISSI. London, Paris,
New York: Hyperion Press, 1940.
Folio (36 cm.); [3] leaves, 40 color plates, each with letterpress
overleaf, [1] leaf. Full cloth in d/j. Blocks engraved by
Etablissements Perenchio and Clich_s-Union; plates printed by L.
Delaporte, letterpress by G. Desgrandchamps, binding by Jospeh
Taupin; Text by Marthe Lucie (Lahovary) Bibesco, "Princesse G. V.
Bibesco." $65
6. Duhamel du Monceau, Henri Louis. TRAITE DES ARBRES ET ARBUSTES ...
(NOUVEAU DUHAMEL). Vol 4 (of seven). Paris: Michel, 1809.
Folio (42 cm.); 240 p. and 41 (of 68) hand-finished plates engraved in color after
Pierre-Joseph Redoute. Paper-covered boards; text block uncompromised;
plates bright and clear.
The first edition of this work apppeared in 1755 in two volumes with uncolored
woodblock plates. The "Nouveau Duhamel" of 1800-1825 was a virtually
independent work, undertaken by Redoute and his circle. The edition was
produced in three states: uncolored engravings, colored engravings, and
hand-finished color plates on large paper. The entire edition was limited to 1000
copies, and the large-paper copies were only a small portion of the total.
The forty one Redoute plates that survive in this copy are a testament to the
warmth, delicacy, and skill of the master.
See Great Flower Books (1990) p. 91; Nissen BBI, 549; Catalogue of Redouteana, 14.
7. Moore, Thomas. BRITISH WILD FLOWERS FAMILIARLY
DESCRIBED IN THE FOUR SEASONS. "A new edition of The
Field Botanist's Companion." London: Reeve & Co., 1867.
8vo; xxvii, 424 pages, and 24 hand-colored plates with interleaved
letterpress. Contemporary full calf, gilt ruled, gilt panelled spine with
labels, dentelles, marbled edges, slightly rubbed. $300
"It is hoped that insight into the structure and classification of plants
will be acquired by those who may honour the book by making it their Companion." This early field guide anticipates modern keys by
encouraging the reader to observe the entire plant, and not just the
buds and flowers collected for the table. Over one hundred hand-
colored cuts in twenty four plates illustrate the text.
8. Nicholson, George. THE ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY OF
GARDENING: AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. London
and New York: L. Upcott Gill, 1887.
4to (26 cm.); 7 original volumes, each with chromolithograph
frontispiece and two addtional chromolithograph plates, several full-page
wood engravings and numerous text illustrations. Decorated cloth, gilt
lettering with blindstamped floral designs; all edges gilt. Ownership
marks of Charles J. Carpender. $175
9. Redoute, Pierre-Joseph. ROSES. Ed. Eva Mannering. New
York and London: The British Book Centre/Ariel Press, 1954-56.
Folio (40 cm.); 2 vols. I: xvi, 24 plates; II: xvi, 24 plates. Vol I:
bound full cloth, dust jacket chipped, repaired with cellophane tape,
internally very good with faint yellowing at edges, boards fine; Vol lI:
Stiff wrappers, condition similar to vol. I, with some foxing on rear
free endpaper. $220
10. (Sprague, Isaac.) Hervey, Rev. A. B. BEAUTIFUL WILD FLOWERS
OF AMERICA. Troy: Nims and Knight, 1892.
4to (28.75 cm.); [44] leaves, 10 chromolithograph plates of wild flowers
after Isaac Sprague. Bound in polychrome decorated cloth, gilt letters;
all edges gilt. $125
11. Thayer, Emma Homan. WILD FLOWERS OF COLORADO.
New York: Cassell & Co., 1885.
4to (31 cm.); 54 p., 25 chromolithographs and tissue guards. Bound
polychrome decorated cloth with gilt letters, flowering plants on front
board and spine, monogram bindstamped on back board; all edges gilt.
Some wear to extremities, else very good. $300
A student at the National Academy of Design and later a charter
member of the Art League of New York, Emma Homan Thayer abandoned
a career as a society portraitist to join the westard expansion. Her
impressive album of wildflower paintings, published as a collection of
chromolithographs, accompanies a lively account of frontier life in
Colorado in the last quarter of the 19th century.
See Nissen, BBI, Supp., 64; Joseph Ewan, Naturalists of Colorado.
12. Thompson, Robert. THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT:
PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ... Ed. Thomas Moore. London:
Blackie & Son, 1884.
Royal 8vo (24.5 cm.); lii, 956 p., and 12 chromolithographs, 20 wood
engravings, many text illustrations. "New edition, revised and
extended." Half calf, raised bands, all edges gilt. $225
The most popular gardening encyclopedia from its first edition in1859
well into the twentieth century, this mighty manual is still instructive
and useful. The 1884 edition was revised and expanded by Thomas
Moore, the botanist whose book of wildflowers appears elsewhere in this
catalogue. It opens with a dozen chromolithographs of flowers, plants
and color-keyed carpet bedding designs. It proceeds through a
thousand double-column small-type pages containing information on
every aspect of gardening, with hundreds of text illustrations. It
closes with a comprehensive index . The unexcelled model of all future
encyclopedias of gardening.
13. Torrey, John. A FLORA OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK: Albany:
Carroll and Cook, 1843. 4to (29.5 cm.); 2 vols. I: ix, 484 p., and extra
engraved title page, 72 hand-colored lithograph plates, II: 572 p., and
88 hand-colored lithograph plates, one folding. Bound gilt-stamped
cloth. Boards loose, backstrip lacking, some dampstaining. Binder's
copy, all plates present in good, solid text block. $450.
14. United States Senate. REPORTS OF EXPLORATIONS
AND SURVEYS, TO ASCERTAIN THE MOST PRACTICABLE
AND ECONOMICAL ROUTE FOR A RAILROAD FROM THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN ... IN 1853-4. Vol. 4.
Washington: Beverley Tucker, 1856
4to (28.5 cm.); 182, 288, iv p., hand colored folding table, 59 plates
of cacti and other plants. Original cloth, blindstamped cartouche.
Casing reattached at front joint. Extremities rubbed. Some plates
browned. $130
Volume 4 of the monumental Pacific Railway survey that explored the
West and prepared the way for the transcontinental rail system of the
1860s. This volume is devoted primarily to the botany of the
Southwest, from Napoleon, Mississippi to Los Angeles. It includes a
folding hand-colored chart of arboreal species arranged by altitude, and
many plates of cactus and other native plants. The accompanying
descriptions are extensive and detailed. In appendix are several
tables of data on astronomy, climatology, magnetic observations, and
measurements of distances and grades.
┬ FLORA: A LIST
Rodger Friedman
Antiquarian Books
116 Pinehurst Avenue
New York, NY 10033
212/ 923 7800, ext. 2421
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