Maund, Benjamin. The Botanic Garden. Consisting of highly finished representations of Hardy Ornamental Flowering Plants, cultivated in Great Britain; with their classification history, culture, and other interesting information. 1st. Ed. Pub. Simpkin and Marshall. 1825-[1850]
Thirteen volume set with 312 fine hand-coloured plates depicting 1,248 flowering plants. Small 4to. Hardbacks. Some minor spotting and offsetting, o/w. contents fine. Quite superbly bound in contemporary green morocco, richly gilt decorated, all in near fine condition, just lightly rubbed in places. Provenance: The Plesch copy, being from the library of Arpad Plesch (1889-1974) with his leather bookplate to Volume 1. A superb set.
Benjamin Maund (1790-1863) was a pharmacist, botanist, printer, bookseller and a fellow of the Linnean Society. He produced ‘The Botanic Garden’ from his press in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. Dedicated to Queen Victoria, and released as a periodical, ornamental plants are depicted with great delicacy. ‘A delightful work, not only full of useful and practical information, but illustrated with most charming plates carefully engraved and coloured’ (Great Flower Books). Arpad Plesch was Hungarian and he amassed the magnificent botanical library of the Stiftung für Botanik, Vaduz, Liechtenstein, which was featured in Douglas Cooper’s book ‘Great Private Collections’.
£7,500.00 [Ref: 58909]