Blume, Carl Ludwig

Rumphia, sive commentationes botanicæ imprimis de plantis Indiæ Orientalis.  Leiden, 1835-48 [-49]



4 vols. bound in 3, folio (16  7/8  x 10  1/2  in.; 428 x 266 mm).  3 lithographed frontipiece portraits, 205 lithographed plates comprising 19 folding plates (18 of which are handcolored) and 186 fill-page plates (of which 137 of which are handcolored); scattered foxing, mostly to text and edges of some plates.  Contemporary half red morocco, spine gilt in seven compartments, morocco lettering-pieces, marbled boards; some wear and rubbing.

Great Flower Books p. 50; Nissen 178; Stafleu TL2 566

A magnificent work on the flora of the East Indies.  Rare at auction, the last recorded copy being the de Belder copy sold in our London rooms (27 April 1987, lot 33). 

Karl Ludwig Blume (1796–1862) was a German botanist who spent most of his working life in the Netherlands, where he was director of the Rijksherbarium.  He originally trained as a doctor and his inquiries into native medicines led him to Java in 1817, where he began to study botany.  He became director of the Buitenzorg Botanic Garden before returning to Europe.  The present work is supplementary to Blume's Flora Javae.  The title refers to Georg Eberhard Rumpf; Blume saw himself as continuing Rumpf's pioneering wotk and indeed was acknowledged as his spiritual disciple with the cognomen "Rumphius".