Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton. A fine copy of the rare first edition of this richly illustrated work on the Rhododendron family

HOOKER, SIR JOSEPH DALTON

THE RHODODENDRONS OF SIKKIM-HIMALAYA, BEING AN ACCOUNT...OF THE RHODODENDRONS RECENTLY DISCOVERED IN THE MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN HIMALAYA...DURING A GOVERNMENT BOTANICAL MISSION TO THAT COUNTRY...EDITED BY SIR W.J. HOOKER. LONDON: REEVE & CO., 1849-1851

3 parts in one, folio (19 1/4 x 14 1/4 in.; 489 x 362 mm). First title with tinted lithographic vignette, 30 hand-colored lithographic plates. Contemporary half morocco over marbled boards, spine gilt, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. 

A very fine copy of the rare first edition of this beautifully illustrated work on the Rhododendron family—"An important work for both the botanist and horticulturalist since it contains descriptions and plates of many of the best Rhododendron species...and an account of their discovery" (Great Flower Books).

The Rhododendrons of the Himalayas amply demonstrate the adaptable nature of the plant kingdom: the species described vary from ground hugging "alpines," to small shrubs, climbers, large shrubs and trees. For example: of the thirty-two species illustrated and described by Hooker in this important monograph, eight are described as trees by Hooker and vary in height from the "Rhododendron lanatum" (a small tree), to the magnificent "R. Campbelliae" and "R. Barbatum" at around 40 feet.

The beautiful plates are amongst the best examples of the work of Walter Hood Fitch, one of the greatest botanical artists of the nineteenth century. Fitch had attracted the attention of Sir William Hooker when he was working as an apprentice to a Glasgow firm of calico designers. "When Hooker was appointed Director of Kew Gardens, he carried his protégé south with him. That was in 1841: for the next fifty years Fitch remained at Kew, and his career is inseparably associated with those of Sir William and his son Joseph...Fitch had the greatest competence of any botanical painter who has yet appeared in drawing the rhododendron" (Great Flower Books). "In his lithographs he has captured the exuberant form and color of these flowering shrubs... Sometimes at the base of the plate, magnified views of the pistils, stamens and sections of the ovaries are presented. The first plate is unusually attractive because the plant...is shown in its native habitat, growing among the trunks of fallen trees against a hazy background of blue mountains" (Oak Spring Flora). Fitch remained the chief (and usually sole) artist for the Botanical Magazine for forty-three years, producing over 9000 drawings including some of the most memorable images of his age.

The plates are all based on Hooker's original drawings. Hooker spent several years exploring Sikkim, as well as parts of Nepal and Tibet. His field notes were sent to England from India to his father, Sir William Hooker, who edited the text for this work and contributed a preface giving an interesting overview of the discovery of the genus by western science. In addition to the many botanical discoveries that J.D. Hooker made during his exploration of the region, his "observations on the geology and meteorology of Sikkim are still fundamental, and he explained the terracing of the mountain valleys by the formation of glacial lakes" (DNB). A great many of the species of Rhododendron discovered and described here by Hooker were subsequently successfully introduced to western cultivation

REFERENCE:

Blunt & Stearn, The Art of Botanical Illustration 264; Bradley Bibliography II:676; Desmond, The European Discovery of the Indian Flora 144; Great Flower Books 101; Nissen, BBI 911; Oak Spring Flora 104; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 2969

PROVENANCE:

Frederick du Cane Godman (bookplate)