Florilegius

Good copy of the Birds of Great Britain and Ireland Part III volume from Sir William Jardine's ambitious Victorian series The Naturalist's Library
Written by Sir William Jardine with 34 handcoloured steel plates by William Lizars after illustrations by James Stewart and engraved portrait of Revd. Dr. Walker
34 finely handcoloured plates, plus frontispiece vignette of a heron flying away from a spaniel engraved by James Stewart
Birds depicted include wood pigeon, ptarmigan, little bustard, bittern, night heron, white stork, little egret, spoonbill, crane, curlew, ruff, stilt, grey phalarope, lapwing, ringed dotterel, thick-knee, oyster catcher, water rail, crake, coot, etc. One adorable plate features water hen, partridge, curlew and land rail chicks.
Sir William Jardine (1800-1874) was a Scottish naturalist. He is best known for writing and editing the 40-volume series of natural history books, The Naturalist's Library from 1833 to 1866. "In addition to the description and depiction (mostly finely coloured pl…Read more

Very good copy of the Pigeons volume from Sir William Jardine's ambitious Victorian series The Naturalist's Library
Pigeons written by Prideaux John Selby with 30 handcoloured steel plates by William Lizars after illustrations by Edward Lear, and engraved portrait of Pliny
30 finely handcoloured plates, plus frontispiece vignette of a pair of ring pigeons engraved by James Stewart
Includes the extinct Norfolk Island Pigeon, Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae spadicea (Columba spadicea), and passenger pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius, as well as the endangered blue-headed quail-dove, Starnoenas cyanocephala (Geophilus cyanocephalus).
Edward Lear (1812-1888) was a English artist, illustrator, musician and poet. He is best known for his ornithological Illustrations of the Family of Psittacidae 1832, parrots and pigeons in The Naturalist's Library, and Nonsense Songs 1871and More Nonsense Pictures 1872.
Prideaux John Selby (1788-1867) was an English ornithologist, botanist and natural history artist. He wrote and illustrate…Read more

Volume 1 (of 2) of the Hummingbirds set from Sir William Jardine's ambitious Victorian series The Naturalist's Library
With all 35 steel engravings engraved by Scottish engraver William Lizars after illustrations by Jean-Gabriel Pretre
In the description to the very first plate, Jardine writes "This fine specimen has been figured in the beautiful work of Mr. Lesson, from which we have borrowed so largely for the illustrations of this present volume." Rene Primevere Lesson's seminal studies of hummingbirds had appeared from 1829-1832.
Hummingbirds, Vol. I, 1834, 35 handcoloured steel plates including frontis vignette, plus engraved portrait of Carl Linnaeus
Sir William Jardine (1800-1874) was a Scottish naturalist. He is best known for writing and editing the 40-volume series of natural history books, The Naturalist's Library from 1833 to 1866. "In addition to the description and depiction (mostly finely coloured plates) by various well-known contributors to almost the whole range of the subject, the series is…Read more

Very good copy of this scarce catalog of the Capitoline Museum in Rome
Volume 3 only of a three-volume set, the third part on busts
Complete with 103 engraved plates of busts
All plates drawn and engraved by Pietro Paolo Montagnani-Mirabili
Descriptions by Giovanni Bottari, with additional information gathered by Dr. Carlo Zardetti, Second Keeper of the Numismatic Cabinet of Milan, from the works of Johann Joachim Winckelmann and Ennio Quirino Visconti.
The busts depict Greek and Roman historical figures including philosophers (Metrodorus, Epicurus, Asclepiades, Aristotle, Socrates, Carneades, Plato, Theophrastus, Diogenes, Thales, Pythagoras, Archimedes, etc.), writers (Virgil, Agathon, Seneca, Aristophanes, Pindar, Terence, Persius, Anacreon, Aratus, Hesiod, Homer, Sappho, Euripedes, Herodotus, Thucydides, etc.), as well as Cleopatra, Hiero I, Masinissa of Numidia, Lucius Junius Brutus, Scipio, and many more.
The first catalog to the Capitoline was published in folio size by Giovanni Bottari from 1741-55 wi…Read more

Very good copy of this scarce catalog of the Capitoline Museum in Rome
Volume 2 only of a three-volume set, the second part of the collection of ancient statues
Complete with 76 engraved plates of statues and engraved title page with vignette of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in the Piazza del Campidoglio.
Plates drawn and engraved by Agostino Tofanelli, Giovanni Petrini, L. Agricola, Giuseppe Perini, D.A. and Giacomo Bossi
The statues depict Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythological deities and historical figures including Jove, Leda, Niobe, Euterpe, Pudicitia, Abundantia, Amazons, Isis, Anubis, Canopus, Egyptian priest, Alexander the Great, King Pyrrhus of Epirus, Ptolemy of Epirus, Roman Emperor Augustus, Agrippina the Elder, Nero, Hadrian, Antinous, Vibia Sabina, Julius Caesar, a captured Barbarian king, Commodus, and many more.
The first catalog to the Capitoline was published in folio size by Giovanni Bottari from 1741-55 with copperplate engravings after Giovanni Domenico Campiglia. Many new edi…Read more

Very good copy of a set of 17th century French illustrations to Ovid's Metamorphoses
With 212 engraved illustrations by Sebastien Leclerc, Francois Chauveau, etc.
The illustrations are probably from Isaac de Benserade's Metamorphoses d'Ovide en Rondeaux.
Dramatic scenes from classical mythology depicting Jupiter, Venus, Apollo, Hercules, Orpheus, Prosperina, Mercury, Pandora, etc., transforming mortals, nymphs and centaurs into birds, animals, flowers, etc.
With contemporary ink manuscript titles, handwritten descriptions in French on verso of preceding plate, all in a neat hand, presumably by owner Wm. Michel Sale, whose signature in on the upper margin of the first plate in each volume. One plate, Vertumnus and Pomona, duplicated in volume 2 (Pls. 100 and 102). Bookplates of the Georgian book collector William Michel Sale of Bledlow, his son-in-law Thomas Pennington (1761-1852) and grandson Montagu Pennington Sparrow (1819-1884).
Sebastien Leclerc or Le Clerc (1637-1714) was a French artist and engraver who…Read more

Very good copy of a classic of the history of fashion and cosmetics
Complete with 21 hand-coloured lithographs and one b/w lithograph all under tissue guards
A guide to beauty, health and hygiene for elegant Englishwomen of the Romantic era, it was published in the same year as Queen Victoria's accession to the throne.
The drawings of heads by John William Wright, English genre and portrait painter
The drawings of figures by Edmund Thomas Parris, English history and portrait painter
The plates lithographed by Maxim Gauci and hand-coloured by Ayton
The volume is illustrated with a colour lithographed frontispiece (an advertisement for Mrs Nicolas Geary's corsets), a black and white plate depicting hairdressing tools, and 20 remarkable colour lithographs representing models in different hairstyles, headdresses and dresses. The illustrations are presented in pairs, superimposed, and a peekaboo cutout in the upper engraving allows the reader to judge the effect of different adjustments on the same model.
The book…Read more

Very good copy of this French guide to makeup from the Roaring Twenties
Complete with 16 hand-colored mounted lithograph plates and 80 text figures
The 16 handcoloured lithographs show examples of stage makeup of popular performers such as the singer Mistinguett, Odette Barencey in her role as Frochard in the Deux Orphelines, comic singer Dranem, and eccentric clown Max-Hardine, several famous roles (such as the comic-book Breton maid Becassine, King Henry IV of France, the demon Mephisto, the old grocer Crainquebille, title character in the 1922 silent movie directed by Jacques Feyder), and various character types (kind grandmother, dowager, magistrate, young peasant, Japanese woman, Indian man, Native American warrior).
The text has chapters on makeup for the town (skin, eyes, nose, mouth), makeup for the stage, makeup for the movies, and makeup for mannequin busts. The chapter on theatrical makeup includes detailed directions from prize-winning makeup artists and performers on how to recreate a certain cha…Read more

Rather ragged copy of a rare tatting book by Mlle. Riego
By the queen of Victorian tatting, knitting, and lace Mademoiselle Eleanor Riego de la Blanchardiere
By special appointment artiste in needlework to HRH the Princess of Wales
32-page booklet illustrated with one chromolithograph by A. Goater (Nottingham), one woodblock plate and several woodcuts in the text by W.D. Hornsby.
The Abergeldie Winter Book (named for a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland) covers winter crochet, tatting, and Tricot Ecossais
It includes patterns for a crocheted opera hood, a reticule muff, crossover shawl, gentlemen's ribbed knitted socks, bed socks, crocheted baby booties, ladies stockings, a Zouave vest, a knitted muffatee, Shetland veil, Empire petticoat, etc.
Eleanor Riego de la Blanchardiere (1829-1887) was a French-Irish knitter, lace tatter, writer and educator active in London. She exhibited in the Tapestry section of the Great Exhibition of 1851 as an "authoress and designer" of 106 New Bond Street. At later expositions, s…Read more

Very good copy of the second, revised edition of Wood's classic of entomology
Complete with 59 hand-colored copperplate engravings illustrating over 2,000 species of butterflies and moths.
A comprehensive catalog of British Lepidoptera, covering all British butterflies and moths.
The meticulous engravings drawn and engraved by entomologist William Wood
This new, revised edition adds five supplemental engravings of another 180 specimens by John Obadiah Westwood.
(The original edition of 1839 contained 54 illustrations and 1,944 specimens.)
The exquisitely hand-colored, meticulous engravings are of exceptional quality.
A classic work on British entomology. The text (explanatory notes) includes a complete list of British insect habitats, with English and Latin names.
William Wood (1774–1857) was a trained surgeon and amateur zoologist. In 1815, he abandoned his medical career and opened a bookstore in the Strand, London, specializing in the history of natural sciences. His books include Zoography 1807, Index t…Read more

Very good copy of Volumes 5 and 6 of John Curtis's monumental work of entomology
Two volumes bound in one
Beautifully illustrated with 96 hand-coloured plates (No. 195-289, plus bis plate 205*)
The series eventually extended to 16 volumes and 770 plates.
The plates include a very fine botanical illustration of the host plant to each insect.
The hand colouring of these plates was undertaken almost exclusively by Joseph Standish and his family.
John Curtis (1791-1862) was an English entomologist, artist, engraver, author and butterfly collector. A gifted entomological and botanical illustrator, he provided the plates for Kirby and Spence's Introduction to Entomology 1815, his own magnus opus British Entomology 1824-39, T. Horsfield's Plantae Javanicae 1822, Transactions of the Entomological Society 1807-12 and William Curtis's Botanical Magazine after the departure of Sydenham Edwards in 1817. His other works include A Guide to the Arrangement of British Insects 1829 and Farm Insects 1860.
Half leather, gilt ti…Read more

Very good copy of one volume, Vol. 11, of John Curtis's monumental work of entomology
Beautifully illustrated with 48 hand-coloured plates (No. 482-529)
The series eventually extended to 16 volumes and 770 plates.
The plates include a very fine botanical illustration of the host plant to each insect.
The hand colouring of these plates was undertaken almost exclusively by Joseph Standish and his family.
John Curtis 1791-1862 was an English entomologist, artist, engraver, author and butterfly collector. A gifted entomological and botanical illustrator, he provided the plates for Kirby and Spence's Introduction to Entomology 1815, his own magnus opus British Entomology 1824-39, T. Horsfield's Plantae Javanicae 1822, Transactions of the Entomological Society 1807-12 and William Curtis's Botanical Magazine after the departure of Sydenham Edwards in 1817. His other works include A Guide to the Arrangement of British Insects 1829 and Farm Insects 1860.
Green cloth tape spine crudely applied over original boards worn…Read more

Very good collection of Parisian fancy dress costumes of the Jazz Age
With 45 (of 48) charming handcoloured pochoir (stencil) lithograph plates by Maggy Monier (4) and others mostly unsigned
A fascinating insight into the flapper culture of Paris in the Roaring Twenties
The whimsical costumes range from familiar items and contemporary popular culture to cultural appropriation. The plates show a Japanese fan, a powder puff, a woman wrestler, a violet, a pea, a balloon seller, a poison-pen letter, a pink daffodil, a poker player, parasols, a carousel, kohl eyes, the TSF (Télégraphie sans fil) or music radio, a maid, a lion-tamer, a cricket, a handbag, tickets, a medieval dame in hennin, a powder box, mushrooms, a cloche hat, Mlle Beulemans (from the 1927 silent comedy film le Mariage de Mademoiselle Beulemans starring Andrée Brabant), the French Revolution, an orange flower, Miss Helyett (from the popular operetta revived in 1921), an apothecary's account, a Mexican, an apple, Nice carnation, a Native Americ…Read more

Very good complete copy in its original condition (with box glassine wraps, additional booklet in rear pocket)
First edition, first printing
With cover art, decorative title page and eight illustrations by Georges Barbier, the renowned French Art Deco artist.
Barbier's illustrations depict perfumed scenes with women from ancient China, Rome, Egypt, India, Persia, Elizabethan England, and Marie Antoinette-era France.
All illustrations are based on the Smithsonian Process (Pochoir style), colour print of a stencil drawing. This was a cutting-edge printing technique invented at the Smithsonian, in which different colour inks were applied over wet inks. The illustrations are layered with luxurious gold and silver tones. This gives the illustrations a soft, romantic feel, creating a deeper depth than the sharp, flat appearance of traditional stencil illustrations.
The book was self-published by Richard Hudnut, president of a well-known American perfume company at the time. A pocket on the rear board includes an ad…Read more

Very good copy of a highly collectible perfume and cosmetics catalog
Early catalog from California Perfume Company (CPC) circa 1939, when it changed its name to Avon
With 76 pages, 74 printed in full colour, the title page and Panama-Pacific International Exposition certificate at rear printed in blue
It contains 36 products under the Avon brand name, including perfumes, cosmetics, creams, toothpaste, hair oil, talcum powder, shaving sets, polish and detergent. Also includes many products under the former Perfection and California Perfume Company brand names.
First published in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
The company's products include a wide variety of perfumes, soaps, shampoos, skin creams, perfumes, toothbrushes, shaving foams, depilatory creams, oils, toothpaste powder, as well as household products such as food flavorings, food colorings, laundry powders, detergents, polishes, furniture creams, insect repellents and cleaning products. These lines were later discontinued as Avon …Read more

Very good collection of 56 engravings from this rare Dutch women's magazine
With 47 (13 folding) fine handcoloured copperplate engravings and nine folding b/w lithographs, mostly after illustrations by Cornelis Borsteegh, engraved by D. Sluyter, A. Lutz, F.C. Bierweiler, or lithographed by Steend von Houtman.
Penelope, or Maandwerk aan het Vrouwelijk Geslacht Toegewijd
Penelope, Monthly Magazine dedicated to the Female Sex, containing: descriptions and illustrations of different kinds of needlework, as well as reading matter on subjects suited to a women's circle
It was a pioneering monthly women's magazine published from 1821 to 1835 in Amsterdam, Holland, by G.J.A. Beijerinck.
The finely handcoloured plates provide lessons in women's crafts such as needlework, embroidery, painting and drawing, as well as diagrams to explain how to make decorative cushions, curtains, fire screens, paper flowers, handbags, keepsakes, baskets, etc.
Volume II (1823): plates 1, 3, 5, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17,
Volume III (1825): title …Read more

Very good complete set of this classic of botanical art
Complete in four volumes with 288 fine handcoloured copperplate engravings
This was a posthumous reissue of Robert Sweet's British Flower Garden and Florist's Guide (1823~1838) with revised text and some plates from Edwards Botanical Register.
The very fine plates are after botanical illustrations by Miss Sarah Ann Drake (126), Edwin Dalton Smith (132), J.T. Hart (69), William Herbert (12) and others, engraved by H. Weddell, A. Bailey, F.W. Smith, G. Barclay and others.
The title-page notes that the work was "Selected from the works of John Lindley, R. Sweet, Professor D. Don, etc, to which are added English Descriptions by a Practical Floriculturist."
Many dynamic portraits of varieties of tulip, lily, daffodil, azalea, iris, crocus, orchid, impatiens, anemone, carnation, etc., with very delicate handcolour. Includes the endangered poro poro, Passiflora pinnatistipula, and endangered cactus, Disocactus biformis.
Robert Sweet (1783–20 January 1835) was…Read more

Very good copy of the first volume of Andrews' magnus opus, with 72 stunning botanical plates.Title page dated 1797, but preface and many plates dated 1799.Complete with 72 copperplates drawn, engraved, published and hand-coloured by Henry Andrews himself, printed in black or green ink and heightened with gum arabic.Volume 1 only in a series of 10 volumes with 664 plates published from 1797 to 1814 as the first serious rival to William Curtis' Botanical Magazine. Andrews stated that it was his intent to introduce new and rare plants "as have not hitherto appeared in any similar publication." This volume has herbs and shrubs from the Cape of Good Hope, the Malabar coast (India), New Holland (Australia), the West Indies and many other exotic locations.
Plants include the endangered scarlet banana or Musa coccinea, several orchids (Platanthera ciliaris, Prosthechea cochleata, Liparis liliifolia), camellia, rhododendron, protea, gladiolus, ixia, peony, lachenalia, geranium, kalanchoe, zinnia, torch lily, stenorrh…Read more

Very good copies of the first two volumes of this botanical classic
Volume 1 and 2 of The Botanical Register
Complete with 177 finely hand-coloured copperplate engravings (including 15 folding double plates) by Sydenham Edwards, engraved by P.W. Smith
The exotic plants and flowers include azalea, camellia, rose, tulip, passionflowers, crinum, amaryllis, lilies, jasmine, cardinal flower, frangipani, bellflowers, foxglove, honeysuckle, violet, cape marigolds, nightshade, peony, protea, rhododendron, etc.
Sydenham Edwards (1768-1819) was an English natural history illustrator. A child prodigy, he was recruited by William Curtis and trained in botanical illustration. When Curtis launched the Botanical Magazine in 1787, it was illustrated by the 19-year-old Edwards and James Sowerby. Edwards would go on produce over 1,700 plates for the magazine at a prodigious rate until 1815. He also illustrated a book on dogs Cynographia Britannica (1800), drew the natural history plates for encyclopedias such as Pantologia an…Read more

Very good copy of volumes 2, 3 and 4 of Joseph Paxton's botanical magazine
Complete with 128 (43 + 43 + 42) handcoloured botanical engravings, 16 folding double-page
With numerous woodcuts in the text showing plants, gardening tools and equipment, pests and pest control, garden plans, stoves and greenhouses, etc.
The botanical illustrations by artist and engraver Frederick William Smith (1797-1835) and artist and lithographer Samuel Holden (1811-1891)
The exotic plants include orchids (Cattleya labiata, Cattleya harrioniae, Laelia anceps, Oncidium citrinum, Oncidium lanceanum, Bletia shepherdii, Dendrobium fimbriatum, Dendrobium moschatum, Epidendron fragrans, Maxillaria harrioniae, Maxillaria deppei), the Cavendish banana, camellias, azaleas, banksia, begonia, acacia, fuchsia, hibiscus, lobster claws (Heliconia farinosa), Java glorybower, yucca, oleander, rhododendrons, coral tree, nepenthes pitcher plant, poinsettia, etc.
Paxton's Magazine of Botany ran to 16 volumes in total from 1834 to 1849 and featured …Read more

Very good copy of the third volume of Joseph Paxton's botanical magazine
With 37 handcoloured botanical engravings, 5 folding double-page (lacking 6 plates)
With many woodcuts in the text showing plants, gardening tools and equipment, etc.
The botanical illustrations by artist and engraver Frederick William Smith (1797-1835) and artist and lithographer Samuel Holden (1811-1891)
The exotic plants include the camellia, azalea, banksia, begonia, acacia, hibiscus, lobster claws (Heliconia farinosa), Java glorybower, yucca, oleander, rhododendron, coral tree, etc.
Paxton's Magazine of Botany ran to 16 volumes in total from 1834 to 1849 and featured 719 hand-coloured plates.
Sir Joseph Paxton (1803-1865) was an English gardener, architect, engineer and MP. He was head gardener at Chatsworth, the seat of the 6th Duke of Devonshire, where he built a magnificent arboretum and greenhouses for his lordship's exotic pineapples and orchids. He is best known for designing the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851…Read more

Very good copy of the first volume of Joseph Paxton's botanical magazine
Complete with 44 handcoloured botanical engravings, 6 folding double-page
With 100 woodcuts in the text showing plants, gardening tools and equipment, pests and pest control, garden plans, stoves and greenhouses, etc.
The botanical illustrations by artist and engraver Frederick William Smith (1797-1835) and others unsigned
The exotic plants include the endangered poro poro or gulupa fruit, Passiflora pinnatistipula, Cattleya intermedia orchid, peony, redcurrent, petunia, passionflower, splendid epiphyllum cactus, hibiscus, azalea, amaryllis, rhododendron, galangale, Peruvian lily, etc.
Paxton's Magazine of Botany ran to 16 volumes in total from 1834 to 1849 and featured 719 hand-coloured plates.
Sir Joseph Paxton (1803-1865) was an English gardener, architect, engineer and MP. He was head gardener at Chatsworth, the seat of the 6th Duke of Devonshire, where he built a magnificent arboretum and greenhouses for his lordship's exotic pineap…Read more

Good copy only of a collection of plates from this famous botanical series
With Vol. 1 on spine, but a selection of 94 plates from the first four volumes (39 from Vol. 1, 30 from Vol. 2, 20 from Vol. 3, and five from Vol. 4) bound together.
With 94 handcoloured engraved plates by George Cooke after illustrations by George Loddiges
Title page to Vol. 3 only, and indexes to Vol. 1 and 2 bound in at rear.
The plants include orchids (Epipactis palustris, Epidendrum umbellatum, Epidendrum cochleatum, Bletia tankervilliae), camellia, cinnamon, amaryllis, passionflower, haemanthus, stapelia, zamia, bottlebrush, and 15 erica heaths.
Conrad Loddiges (1738-1820), a German gardener, came to England at the end of the 18th century and established a renowned plant nursery in Hackney, South London, in 1761. From the 1780s, he began to publish catalogs of the new garden plants collected from all over the world by plant hunters such as Hugh Cuming. Inspired by the success of The Botanical Magazine, Botanical Register, etc., t…Read more

Very good copy of Volume XIV (14) of this famous botanical series
With 100 finely handcoloured engraved plates, numbered 1301 to 1400, by George Cooke
The plants include orchids (Catasetum claveringii, Cypripedium insigne, Maxillaria racemosa, Helonia bracteata), four acacias, three azaleas, two aloes, foxglove, cactus, spurge, fuchsia, iris, passionflower, pothos, rudbeckia, stapelia, violet and 11 erica heaths. The exotic plants are from Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), New Holland (Australia), Trinidad, North America, Mexico, Nepal, Siberia, etc.
Conrad Loddiges (1738-1820), a German gardener, came to England at the end of the 18th century and established a renowned plant nursery in Hackney, South London, in 1761. From the 1780s, he began to publish catalogs of the new garden plants collected from all over the world by plant hunters such as Hugh Cuming. Inspired by the success of The Botanical Magazine, Botanical Register, etc., the catalogs evolved into the Botanical Cabine…Read more