Cogniaux, Célestin Alfred

Dictionnaire iconographique des orchidées.  Brussels: F. Havermans, 1896–1907

17 volumes, unbound as issued, oblong 12mo (5 3/4 x 7 3/8 in.; 146 x 187 mm).  Approximately 800 chromolithographed plates after A. Goossens by Goffart and others, text; condition varies, but generally good.  Publisher's portfolios with green printed boards; condition varies, some weari and rubbing.

BMNH I.362; Nissen BBI, Supplement 2236n

First edition.  One of 225 sets. A rare work on orchids with plates by one of the greatest of all orchid painters.  The work is made up from sections on each genus, headed by a title and two pages of general description of the genus giving an historical note about the variety and ending with an acknowledgement of the origin of the particular flower depicted in each plate.  The larger genera are each alloted their own volume, with the remaining genera in a large final volume.

Sold as a collection of plates, not subject to return.