William Curtis | Flora Londinensis, London, 1835, 5 volumes, contemporary half calf

William Curtis

Flora Londinensis: containing a history of the plants indigenous to Great Britain, illustrated by figure of the natural size... A new edition, enlarged by George Graves... and William Jackson Hooker. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1835

5 volumes, folio (482 x 299 mm), 659 hand-coloured engraved plates on 647 leaves, contemporary green half morocco, spines gilt, marbled endpapers, some spotting (with old restoration in places) and transfer of pigment from a few plates onto facing text leaves, upper hinges of volumes 2 and 5 split, extremities rubbed

This is virtually a new work, being a greatly enlarged edition of the Flora Londinensis with over 200 new plates added. The first three volumes contain the original 432 plates, but with the text rewritten by Hooker. The final two volumes are entirely new, with plates mostly from drawings by Hooker (and some of the cryptograms by R.K. Greville), together with his own descriptions. This edition was published in 1817-1828, and reissued with new title-pages in 1835. 

LITERATURE:

Nissen BBI 440 (incorrect plate count); Great Flower Books, p.54; Henry 597; Stafleu TL2 1286