THE PROPERTY OF A LADY OF TITLE
HOOKER, Joseph Dalton (1817-1911). The Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya, being an account...of the rhododendrons recently discovered in the mountains of Eastern Himalaya ...edited by Sir W. J. Hooker. London: Reeve, Benham and Reeve, 1849-1851.
Details
HOOKER, Joseph Dalton (1817-1911). The Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya, being an account...of the rhododendrons recently discovered in the mountains of Eastern Himalaya ...edited by Sir W. J. Hooker. London: Reeve, Benham and Reeve, 1849-1851.
3 parts in one volume, 2° (490 x 360mm). 1p. list of subscribers. First title with tinted lithographic vignette, 30 hand-coloured lithographic plates by W. H. Fitch after Hooker, printed by Reeve & Nichols. (Light spotting, affecting about 20 plates.) Later green calf gilt, g.e. (extremities scuffed, upper joint slightly split). Provenance: Adam Gordon (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION of one of the most attractive botanical books of the nineteenth century. The text was edited by Sir William Hooker (1785-1865) from his son's field notes sent back from India. In 1847, Lord Carlisle, then commissioner of woods and forests, obtained for Joseph Dalton 'a grant of 400 [pounds] wherewith to explore for two years the central and eastern Himalayas... Part of 1848 and 1849 was spent in exploring Sikkim... In the latter year he was joined by Dr.Campbell, the government agent, and owing to some intrigue in the Sikkim court they were both temporarily imprisoned. He was able to explore part of Eastern Nepal... He surveyed single-handed the passes into Tibet... His observations on the geology and meteorology of Sikkim are still fundamental, and he explained the terracing of mountain valleys by the formation of glacial lakes. He succeeded in introducing into cultivation through Kew the splendid rhododendrons of Sikkim, which were worthily illustrated from his drawings in a work published by his father' (DNB). He returned to England in 1851. Stafleu and Cowan 2969; Nissen BBI 911; Great Flower Books p. 60: 'An important work both for the botanist and horticulturalist since it contains descriptions and plates of many of the best garden Rhododendron species which can be grown in this country and an account of their discovery.'
3 parts in one volume, 2° (490 x 360mm). 1p. list of subscribers. First title with tinted lithographic vignette, 30 hand-coloured lithographic plates by W. H. Fitch after Hooker, printed by Reeve & Nichols. (Light spotting, affecting about 20 plates.) Later green calf gilt, g.e. (extremities scuffed, upper joint slightly split). Provenance: Adam Gordon (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION of one of the most attractive botanical books of the nineteenth century. The text was edited by Sir William Hooker (1785-1865) from his son's field notes sent back from India. In 1847, Lord Carlisle, then commissioner of woods and forests, obtained for Joseph Dalton 'a grant of 400 [pounds] wherewith to explore for two years the central and eastern Himalayas... Part of 1848 and 1849 was spent in exploring Sikkim... In the latter year he was joined by Dr.Campbell, the government agent, and owing to some intrigue in the Sikkim court they were both temporarily imprisoned. He was able to explore part of Eastern Nepal... He surveyed single-handed the passes into Tibet... His observations on the geology and meteorology of Sikkim are still fundamental, and he explained the terracing of mountain valleys by the formation of glacial lakes. He succeeded in introducing into cultivation through Kew the splendid rhododendrons of Sikkim, which were worthily illustrated from his drawings in a work published by his father' (DNB). He returned to England in 1851. Stafleu and Cowan 2969; Nissen BBI 911; Great Flower Books p. 60: 'An important work both for the botanist and horticulturalist since it contains descriptions and plates of many of the best garden Rhododendron species which can be grown in this country and an account of their discovery.'