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Rare and Antiquarian Books

Botany

For rare and antique books on botany and plant biology, look through the rare botany books section of the Biblio Rare Book Room. Many of the valuable and collectible rare and antique books about botany contain detailed illustrations and illustrious bindings and fore-edges. There are several multi-volume botany book sets, and there is a wide diversity of languages and focuses throughout the rare botany book section of the Biblio Rare Book Room.

Results 1 - 15 of 232
Monandrian Plants of the Order Scitamineae, chiefly drawn from living specimens in the Botanic...
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Monandrian Plants of the Order Scitamineae, chiefly drawn from living specimens in the Botanic Garden at Liverpool

by ROSCOE, William (1753-1831)

  • Used
Condition
Used
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New York, New York
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A$53,945.50
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Liverpool: printed by George Smith, 1828. Large folio. (21 1/4 x 16 1/2 inches). 112 lithographic plates by Hullmandell, hand-coloured by George Graves, after Thomas Allport, Rebecca Miller, Margaret Roscoe, Mrs James Dixon, Ellen Yates, Emily Fletcher, Mary Waln and unidentified "native artists", 3 uncoloured lithographic illustrations. Contemporary green morocco gilt, covers with wide gilt border made up from fillets and a decorative roll tool surrounding a large central arabesque blocked in blind, expertly rebacked to style, the spine in six compartments with raised bands, lettered in the second, the others with repeat decoration in gilt, gilt turn-ins, pink glazed endpapers, gilt edges Provenance: James Stamford Caldwell (1787-1858, Linley Wood, Talke, Staffordshire, armorial bookplate) A fine copy (with a family connection) of this spectacular work, limited to 150 copies. Roscoe, a talented member of a talented family, was a banker from Liverpool and supporter of the liberal arts. This work,… Read More
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The Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya; being an account, botanical and geographical of the...
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London: Reeve, Benham, & Reeve, 1851. Folio. (19 5/8 x 14 1/2 inches). Title with tinted lithographic vignette, 2 letterpress part titles, 1p. list of subscribers, 1p. preface to part II. Hand-coloured lithographic frontispiece and 29 fine plates, drawn on stone by John Nugent Fitch from drawings by J.D. Hooker, printed by Reeve, Benham & Reeve (12), Frederic Reeve (4) and Reeve & Nichols (14). Original oatmeal morocco-grained cloth, covers blocked with double fillet border, the flat spine lettered in gilt 'Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya', g.e., contained within a modern brown cloth box, titled in gilt on a black morocco lettering-piece A very fine copy of the rare second 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… Read More
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A$34,679.25
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An album of original watercolour drawings of Cassowaries, with related manuscript title Kasuare /...
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An album of original watercolour drawings of Cassowaries, with related manuscript title "Kasuare / Walter Rothschild

by ROTHSCHILD, Lionel Walter, Baron Rothschild (1868-1937) - John Gerrard KEULEMANS (1842-1912, artist)

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Used
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New York, New York
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A$36,991.20
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London, 1899. Oblong octavo. (8 3/8 x 11 1/4 inches). Black ink calligraphic manuscript title, manuscript map in blue ink of New Guinea, northern extremities of Australia and the surrounding islands, hand-coloured with a related key beneath to show the distribution of the various species and sub-species, 7 plates of pen-and-ink and watercolour drawings of various species of cassowary (the first five plates each with three heads, the sixth plate with two heads and the final plate with a fine full-length study of an adult and a young bird). Loosely inserted is an early manuscript listing (in the same hand as the captioning of the plates and the index to the map) of various species of the birds, with common names and locations. Contemporary brown morocco-backed cloth-covered boards, dark red morocco box Provenance: Otto Fockelmann (of Hamburg, near-contemporary signature in blue ink on title) Pre-publication presentation manuscript with watercolour drawings depicting the 17 species or sub-species of… Read More
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[HERBAL] THE HERBALL OR GENERALL HISTORIE OF PLANTES. GATHERED BY JOHN GERARDE OF LONDON MASTER...

[HERBAL] THE HERBALL OR GENERALL HISTORIE OF PLANTES. GATHERED BY JOHN GERARDE OF LONDON MASTER IN CHYRURGERIE Very Much Enlarged and Ammended by Thomas Johnson, Citizen and Apothecarye of London

by GERARDE [GERARD], John

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Original front blank endpaper replaced. Tasteful bookplate of Roger Gates on the front pastedown. Minor loss to the lower blank
Edition
Third Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Fleetwood, Pennsylvania
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A$14,449.69
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London: Adam Islip, Joice Norton & Richard Whitakers, 1636. Third Edition. Hardcover. Original front blank endpaper replaced. Tasteful bookplate of Roger Gates on the front pastedown. Minor loss to the lower blank outside corner of the first dozen or so pages, not close to the text; title page with small repairs. Some old dampstaining, mostly marginal and mostly rather faint. Nice, clean copy of this important book. First published in 1597, this is the second edition edited by Thomas Johnson (a reprint of the 1633 edition) who corrected many of Gerard's errors and who improved the accuracy of the illustrations by using Plantin's woodcuts. Thick Folio (9" x 13") bound in full early calf sympathetically rebacked with a new red morocco spine label; (36), 30, (29)-30, (29)-1630, (48) pages with a list of errata on the verso of the last leaf. Illustrated with an engraved title page with a border of vignettes, decorative and historiated headpieces and initials, and 2,766 botanical woodcuts in the text… Read More
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ABBILDUNGEN In Und Ausländischer Pflanzen [Ms. Title on Spine]

ABBILDUNGEN In Und Ausländischer Pflanzen [Ms. Title on Spine]

by (BOTANICAL WATERCOLOURS)

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Condition
Used
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Toronto, Ontario
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A$13,465.20
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[Germany: c1835]., 1835. 4to. 237 x 190 mm. 250 full-page watercolour drawings of flowers, each with ms. title in Latin & German & number. with 57 pp. manuscript in German containing a brief description of each flower & 5 pp. manuscript index. 19th century bds. (bit worn, a few spots of paper adhesion on first watercolour, lacking flyleaf & probably a manuscript title). An appealing collection of competently executed original botanical watercolours including depictions of begonias, irises, salvia, passionflowers, amaryllis, lobelia, paeony, California poppy, hibiscus, azalea, trillium,.browallia, &c. Apparently part of a larger work as the watercolours are numbered from 6201 to 6450, but unfortunately we are unable to offer any information regarding the author or the work, including whether or not it was ever published..
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A$13,465.20
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De Florum Cultura Libri IV

De Florum Cultura Libri IV

by FERRARI, Gio[vanni] Battista [1583-1654]

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used
Edition
1st Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Toronto, Ontario
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A$11,162.56
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Rome: Stephanus Paulinus, 1633., 1633. small 4to. pp. 5 p.l., 522, [15]index. engraved title & 46 engraved plates, all included in pagination. 2 woodcut initials. contemporary vellum (some light to moderate foxing, some plates & leaves lightly embrowned, small wormholes in spine – spine expertly relined, new endpapers). label on verso of engraved title of the Society of Jesus, Grenoble. First Edition of this beautifully illustrated work on flowers and horticulture, dedicated by the author to Francesco Barberini, Italian cardinal, founder of the celebrated Barberini Library, and librarian of the Vatican. Among the plates are seven fine allegorical engravings by J.F.Greuter, and Claude Mellan, after drawings by Pietro Berettini da Cortona, Guido Reni, and Andrea Sacchi, several showing garden designs (parterres), gardening equipment and vases, and the majority, depicting various species of flowers and floral arrangements, attributed to Anna M.Vaiani. Ferrari was in charge of the luxurious… Read More
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De plantis libri XVI
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De plantis libri XVI

by CESALPINO, Andrea (CAESALPINUS, Andreas)

  • Used
  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
1st Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Ritterhude, Germany
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A$31,897.20
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Florence: Giorgio Marescotti, 1583. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 1st Edition. Hardcover. 4to (220 x 154 mm). [40], 621, [11] pp. Woodcut printer's device on title and at end, woodcut initials, some historiated. Variant title page with "Duce" in 9th line. Contemporary vellum (old remboitage binding), spine hand-lettered, faded blue edges. A few leaves with faint stains or mostly marginal spotting, fore edge with small ink stain affecting a few leaves to the end, title-page with small ink corrosion hole inside signature. Provenance: Savgiano(?) (early signature in ink on title); "B.M." (manuscript note on title); "M no. 2J" (early note in ink on title); Warren H. Corning, Library of the Holden Arboretum (bookplate to front pastedown). Very good copy, collated complete. ---- Dibner 20; PMM 97; Sparrow 34; Norman 432; Pritzel 1640; Adams C-20; BM/STC Italian p. 134; Cleveland Collections 122, Holden Arboretum Copy 2 (this copy). - THE VERY RARE FIRST EDITION OF "THE FIRST TRUE TEXTBOOK OF… Read More
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On the Flora of Australia, its Origin, Affinities, and Distribution; being an Introductory Essay...
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On the Flora of Australia, its Origin, Affinities, and Distribution; being an Introductory Essay to the Flora of Tasmania... Reprinted from the Botany of the Antarctic Expedition, Part III, Flora of Tasmania, Vol. I.

by HOOKER, Joseph Dalton

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  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used
Edition
First Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Adelaide, South Australia
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A$20,000.00
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London: Lovell Reeve, 1859. First Edition. Hardcover. London, Lovell Reeve, [November] 1859 [first separate edition]. Large quarto, viii, 128 pages (complete with the half-title). Later half roan and stippled cloth, lightly rubbed at the extremities; a very crisp and bright copy. 'The first important botanical work by a supporter of the doctrine of evolution by natural selection' (Norman, often quoted, but not going nearly far enough in our opinion!). A singular rarity, of the utmost importance. In the concluding paragraph of the postscript, unique to this edition, Hooker writes: 'I would further observe here, to avoid ambiguity, that my friend Mr. Darwin's just completed work "On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection" [sic], from the perusal of much of which in MS. I have profited so largely, had not appeared during the printing of the Essay, or I should have largely quoted it. Kew, November, 4, 1859'.
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Commentario Secundo Aucti, in Libros Sex Pedacii Dioscoridis Anazarbei De Medica Materia
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Commentario Secundo Aucti, in Libros Sex Pedacii Dioscoridis Anazarbei De Medica Materia

by Matthioli, Pietro Andrea

  • Used
  • very good
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
2nd Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Whitby, Ontario
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A$12,479.72
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Venice: Officina Erasmiana, Apud Vincentium Valgrisium, 1558. 2nd Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. Folio. Bound with: Apologia Adversus Amathum Lusitanum cum Censura in Eiusdem Enarrationes. Venice: Ex Officina Erasmiana, Vindentii Valgrisii, 1558. Contemporary pigskin binding, with title lettered on spine. With custom slipcase. Book I (Commentario Secundo Aucti): [cxx], 776 p.p. Handsomely illustrated with 703 woodcut illustrations of plants and animal figures. Includes 133 extra woodcuts than were previously issued in the first Venice edition in 1554.; Book II (Apologia): [8] 9-50 p.p. Pietro Andrea Gregorio Mattioli [1501-1577] was an Italian physician and botanist, who was doctor to Archduke Ferdinand I and Emperor Maximilian II. He helped advanced understanding of medical botany and contributed to knowledge of the medicinal properties of plants. In his Commentaries, Mattioli expanded on and identified plants not mentioned in Dioscorides Materia Medica. This second edition was the first to include… Read More
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Coloured Figures of English Fungi or Mushrooms Vols I-III with Supplement
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Coloured Figures of English Fungi or Mushrooms Vols I-III with Supplement

by James Sowerby

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  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
1st Edition
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Birsay, Orkney
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A$23,588.40
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London : Printed by J Davis [Vols I & II] and B Wilks [Vol III] for the Author, 1798 A very good copy of the complete 3 volume 1st edition including later Supplement, with 440 hand coloured plates on 436 leaves. This work was James Sowerby's follow up to his successful English Botany and he both drew, and engraved the plates and oversaw the colouring. He immersed himself in the study of mushrooms over the period of work, which was published between 1798 and 1809, including creating 200 models of larger species, and making his collection of specimens available to public view. In his introduction to the Supplement (which was issued without separate title) he states his concern that the identification of many individual species, with illustrations that focus only on perfect specimens, might confuse the public into eating poisonous fungi. His response was to illustrate a number of specimens rather than the 'perfect one' and to model a number of poisonous species for public inspection. This… Read More
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Keika Hyakugiku
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Keika Hyakugiku: Keika's 100 Chrysanthemums

by Keika Hasegawa

  • Used
  • good
  • Paperback
  • first
Condition
Used - Good
Edition
1st
Binding
Paperback
Seller
Tokyo, Tokyo
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A$10,789.10
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Rare complete copy of Keika Hasegawa's Keika Hyakugiku (100 chrysanthemums by Keika)(The British Museum only has Volumes 1 and 2, the Smithsonian only 2 and 3.)75 colour woodblock prints (all published), including eight double-page, from this seminal book on the cultivation of chrysanthemums. Volumes 1 and 2 published in July 1893 and Volume 3 published in December 1903. Chrysanthemum cultivation came to Japan from China in the 8th century and the flower was later adopted as the Emperor's crest. Over the centuries, extraordinary hybrids of elegant shapes and vibrant colours were produced, many of which are recorded in this book.Little is known about the artist Keika Hasegawa. (The name Keika is usually a woman's name.) Active in the final years of the 19th century, he also produced books of patterns for kimono and washi paper such as Biko Zukan (Art Book) 1894, and Kyoka Zuan (Patterns of Kyoto), 1897. Original wraps are grubby and worn, interior slightly browned and edges worn. A few prints with… Read More
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[Horticulture in ottave] Operetta delle Semente. Nella quale insegna quando si debbe seminare et...
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4° (mm 192x140); ll. (6). Title with large woodcut vignette; another large woodcut vignette to title and head of de' Crescenzi section. Binding of 20th century - signed "Wheeler" - in olive green morocco, gilt. A nice, unsophisticated copy.Extremely rare edition, exquisitely popular, which combines poetic entertainment with the purpose of a peasant almanac, describing when to sow and when to transpose, and from month to month how to do the recollections. It includes a list of tasks for each month taken from Pietro de' Crescenzi (Bologna, 1233 – 1320).After the octaves of the Operetta - Incipit: "Chi si diletta nuove cose udire / sempre levato tien l'occhio e la mente" -the booklet hosts:c. A2v: Operetta piaceuole di tre panieri di frutte - with grapes "lugliola […], moscadella, pisana e la vernaccia, zibibbo, razzese e corso, greco, trebbiano e malvagìa fine, […] canaiuola, galletta e passerine, sancolombane e zappolino et martinacce e lonze e le caprine", figs, pears, apples, etc. - per… Read More
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A$13,430.40
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The Floral Magazine
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The Floral Magazine: Figures and Descriptions of the Choicest New Flowers

by Henry Honywood Dombrain, Worthington George Smith, Frederick William Burbidge

  • Used
  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
1st
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Tokyo, Tokyo
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A$10,018.45
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A very good run of the first five volumes from the New Series of this very rare botanical.

Complete with 240 handcoloured botanical plates by Worthington George Smith (212) and Frederick William Burbidge (28)

Flowers include many species of elegant orchids, roses, camellias, dahlias, hyacinths, rhododendrons, pansies, geraniums, and many other popular Victorian garden flowers.

Bernard Quaritch in a General Catalogue of Books in 1874 praises the series for its "beautifully coloured plates" and notes it was already "very scarce."

Five volumes edited by Henry Honywood Dombrain (1,2), Worthington George Smith (3,4) and Frederick William Burbidge (5), published from 1872 to 1876. (Volumes 11 to 15 in the complete series).

The Floral Magazine launched in 1861 and introduced exotic flowers from tropical lands as well as hybrids raised in British nurseries. The lithographic plates were dynamic, full-page botanical illustrations in large format Royal or Imperial Octavo size. Unlike the French and… Read More
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A$10,018.45
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The British Herbal
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The British Herbal: An History of Plants and Trees, Natives of Britain

by Sir John Hill

  • Used
  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
1st
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Tokyo, Tokyo
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A$10,789.10
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Very good copy of the rare first edition of John Hill's famous herbal with contemporary hand colour.
With engraved allegorical frontispiece showing Health receiving tribute from Asia, Africa and America by Samuel Wale engraved by Henry Roberts, engraved coat of arms of the Duke of Northumberland on dedication, and 75 engraved botanical plates all finely coloured in a contemporary 18th-century hand.
The 75 plates show approximately 1,500 species of plants, flowers, herbs, vegetables, fruits, ferns, mushrooms, both native to Britain and foreign, all in distinctive 18th-century colour.
Plates drawn and engraved by Boyce, C. Edwards & Matthew Darly, Henry Roberts, R. Benning, etc.
Title page printed in red and black with allegorical vignette of Aesculapius and Flora gathering from the Lap of Nature by Samuel Wale, engraved by Charles Grignion.
Sir John Hill (1714–1775) was an English composer, actor, author and botanist. He contributed to contemporary periodicals and engaged in literary battles with… Read More
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Plantae Utiliores
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Plantae Utiliores: or Illustrations of Useful Plants

by M.A. Burnett

  • Used
  • very good
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Very Good
Edition
1st
Binding
Hardcover
Seller
Tokyo, Tokyo
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A$10,789.10
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Very good complete copy of this Victorian classic of medical botany
Botanical illustrations by Mary Ann Burnett, sister of botanist Gilbert Burnett
First edition in four volumes complete with all 260 botanical illustrations drawn and hand-coloured by the artist
Illustrations of useful flowers, fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, medicinal plants, botanical dyes, mushrooms, etc.
Zincograph plates by Charles Chabot
One of only 316 copies printed for 262 subscribers
Mary Ann Burnett was the sister of Gilbert Burnett, Professor of Botany at King's College London and the Apothecaries' Society, Chelsea. Mary was an artist and worked as "a colourer of drawings and maps." Her brother's sudden death at age 35 in 1835 left her (and her mother) in "utter destitution." In 1836, the London Medical and Surgical Journal launched an appeal on their behalf with donations accepted at several banks and other locations in London.
Partly to stave off destitution, Mary Ann edited the text of her brother's magnum opus… Read More
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