Search Results: Titles starting with B from Florilegius

Very good copy of a rare privately printed botanical book by a Victorian woman artist
Complete with hand-coloured title and 20 hand-coloured botanical plates, all finely lithographed by Dean and Monday of 40 Threadneedle Street, London.
All plates drawn by talented and mysterious botanical artist E.E. Gleadall.
The flowers include exotic camellias, rhododendron, lady's slipper orchid, passionflower, coral tree, tiger lily, flowering cactus and waterlilies, as well as roses, geraniums, daffodils, pansies and heather.
Miss Eliza Eve Gleadall (1806-1887) was headmistress of the ladies seminary at Heath Old Hall near Wakefield. Here she taught English grammar, French, Italian, music, history, geography, and botanical illustration. She married Benjamin Williamson of Leeds in 1838 and retired from teaching and botanical art to bring up her seven children. Widowed in 1854, she launched another ladies seminary in Harrogate and ran it until her death in 1887. Her only book Beauties of Flora is a guide to… Read More

Complete set of 18 volumes of the first edition of John Bell's British Theatre with the de Wilde portraits."In 1793, the year of his first bancrupty, the beleaguered Bell bound up and sold the first 90 numbers of the new de Wilde-illustrated edition without general volume title pages." (Kalman A. Burnim and Philip H. Highfill Jr.). This set conforms to that description: volumes 1 to 18, each with five plays complete with all 90 title pages and theatrical portraits by Samuel de Wilde, engraved by John Chapman, lacking volume titles. Portraits include actors, actresses and opera singers of the Georgian stage including Sarah Siddons, John Philip Kemble, Robert Baddeley, Isabella Mattocks, Charles Lee Lewes, Harriet Pye Esten, Elizabeth Billington, Anna Maria Crouch, Anna Selina Storace, Joseph George Holman, Elizabeth Younge (later Pope),etc.Vol. 1: Comus by John Milton, Maid of the Mill, School for Fathers and Love in a Village by Isaac Bickerstaff, The Beggar's Opera by John Gay. Vol. 2: Venice… Read More

Incomplete run of 17 volumes (of 21) of the second edition of John Bell's British Theatre, the first published in 1776-78.Volumes 1-12 and 14-19 (missing volumes 13, 14, 20, 21), each with five plays complete, with all 17 frontispieces and 85 fold-out theatrical portraits by James Roberts, engraved by Reading, Thornthwaite, Walker, etc. Portraits include actors, actresses and opera singers of the Georgian stage including Sarah Siddons, Thomas Sheridan, David Garrick, Ann Barry, Mary Ann Yates, Joseph Vernon, Priscilla Hopkins, Ann Brown, etc.Vol. 1: Tragedies: Zara by Aaron Hill, Venice Preserved by Thomas Otway, Jane Shore by Nicholas Rowe, The Siege of Damascus by John Hughes, The Distrest Mother by Ambrose Philips. Vol. 2: Comedies: The Provok'd Wife by John Vanburgh, Every Man in his Humour by Ben Jonson, The Beaux Stratagem by George Farquhar, The Old Batchelor by William Congreve, The Committee by R. Howard.Vol. 3: Tragedies: The Earl of Essex by Henry Jones, Tamerlane by Nicholas Rowe, The… Read More

Good complete collection of the heraldry section from Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopedia. Complete with all 29 copperplate engravings (one triple folding plate counted as three) and 26 pages of explanatory text.With over 750 heraldic shields comprising:650 examples of heraldic motifs (Pl. I to XII)21 coats of arms of religious ranks, helms of aristocracy (Pl. XIII to XIV)36 coats of arms of kings and rulers of Europe, Russia, Ethiopia, Persia, China, etc. (Pl. XV to XVIII)24 coats of arms of French nobility (Pl. XIX to XX)63 coats of arms within a genealogical tree of the kings of France going back five generations from Louis XVI, beheaded in the French Revolution, to Louis XIII (Triple folding plate, Pl. XXI)12 coats of arms with supporting mermaids, bears, tigers, hounds, gryphons, eagles, etc. (Pl. XXII)95 coats of arms of military and religious orders with their names neatly written in pencil (Pl. XXIII-XXVII)Half leather, spine with five raised bands, gilt fleurs-de-lys, blue cloth title label… Read More

Good copy of this rare book on the history of boots and shoes by the inventor of the Chelsea boot.With Illustrations of the Fashions of the Egyptians, Hebrews, Persians, Greeks and Romans, and the Prevailing Style Throughout Europe During the Middle Ages Down to the Present Period.Joseph Sparkes Hall was shoemaker and bootmaker to Queen Victoria, the Queen Dowager and the Queen of the Belgians. He is also credited with the invention of the "patent elastic ankle boot" in 1837, now known as the Chelsea boot.Illustrated with four hand-colored plates and numerous figures in the text.A concise and fascinating history of the development of boots, shoes and footwear from ancient Egypt to the 1840s. First American edition after the second English edition, augmented with "a history of boots and shoes in the United States, showing the changes of fashion in this indispensable article of dress."Full leather binding with four raised bands, front and back hinges splitting, some slight toning to page edges and… Read More

Complete set of the 53 copperplate engravings only from this seminal work of microscopy by Jan Swammerdam (1637-1680), the pioneering Dutch biologist. Swammerdam was one of the outstanding comparative anatomists of the seventeenth century. His most remarkable work was in the field of insect anatomy, which he undertook in order to disprove Aristotle's claims that insects lack internal anatomy, develop by metamorphosis and arise from spontaneous generation. By refining his techniques of micro-dissection and injection, Swammerdam was able to illustrate for the first time the complex internal structures of insects, including their reproductive organs.These observations are "indubitably the foundation of our modern knowledge of the structure, metamorphosis and classification of insects" (Cole, p. 285).Biblia naturae, Swammerdam's major work, was published 57 years after his death by Herman Boerhaave, who assembled it from unpublished manuscript materials integrated with a slightly revised version of… Read More

Very good copy of the Large Paper Copy of the Quarto edition of Erasmus Darwin's masterpiece with the William Blake engravings. With the first edition of Part 1: containing the Economy of Vegetation, 1791, and the second edition of Part 2: containing the Love of the Plants, 1790, bound in one volume. Large Paper Copy in 29 x 22.5cm (Henrey gives 26 x 21cm for all 1791 editions). Part I has 10 plates by Henry Fuseli, William Blake, Henry Webber and others engraved by William Blake, Anker Smith, Thomas Holloway. Includes frontispiece "Flora attired by the Elements" by Henry Fuseli engraved by Anker Smith, four plates of the Portland Vase attributed to Blake (bound next to Note XXII page 53 to 59), fold-out botanical of a Cyprepedium orchid, botanical plate of Erythrina, and Sections of the Earth. The Directions to the Binder indicates only 8 plates, but this copy includes two additional plates: the famous "Fertilization of Egypt," designed by Fuseli and engraved by Blake, with the dog-headed god Anubis… Read More

Very good copy of the first volume of Andrews' magnus opus, with 72 stunning botanical plates.Title page dated 1797, but preface 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 Mexico, South America, the West Indies, South Africa, Japan, Madeira, and many other exotic locations.The distinctive plates are dynamic and elegant, with brilliant and vibrant hand-colour by Andrews himself. Printed in green ink, many look like water-colour paintings rather than engravings. The image fills the page, with some trimmed right up to the plate mark.With botanical descriptions in… Read More

Very good copy of the fifth volume of Andrews' magnus opus, with 72 stunning botanical plates.Title page and frontispiece undated, but many plates dated 1803.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 5 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.The distinctive plates are dynamic and elegant, with brilliant and vibrant hand-colour by Andrews himself. Printed in green ink, many look like water-colour paintings rather than engravings. The image fills the page, with some trimmed right up to the… Read More

Very good copy of Sowerby's answer to George Shaw's The Naturalist's Miscellany
Complete with all 76 plates (two folding) finely handcoloured engravings by this prolific artist
Includes "new, rare, or little known animal subjects many not before ascertained to be inhabitants of the British Isles and chiefly in the possession of the author." There are strange parasites that prey on sand bees or sprats, sea urchin, Norway king crab, Sowerby's beaked whale, sea worms and sea fans, a rare narwhal with two tusks, starfish, cuttlefish, beetles, flies, corals and sponges, a water shrew, ducks, brown trout, bee-eaters and grebes.
This is the re-issue from Bernard Quaritch with new title page and corrected and completed index "after the purchase of the [original] stock in May 1875"
New title page, corrected index, original title page, dedication to Francis Lord Seaforth and James Brodie Esq. (who supplied specimens to the author), preface, corrected index (duplicate), 60 handcoloured plates and 1-132 text… Read More

Complete set with 144 fine bird plates drawn, engraved and hand-coloured mostly by George Graves, (A few plates after Samuel Howitt and Sydenham Edwards, and engraved by Weddell and Warner.)A nice set of this study of British birds, with many songbirds, game birds, owls and hawks, divers, waders, and sea birds.Second edition of first two volumes (originally published in parts from 1811 and 1821), but first edition of the complete set (the third volume first appearing in 1821).With the title typo: British Ornithology, Being the History, with a Coloured Representation, of Every Kown [sic] Species of British Birds.George Graves (1784-1839), FLS, was an English publisher, artist, engraver and colourist who worked on botanical and ornithological works. Apart from British Birds (1811-1821), he also wrote and illustrated Ovarium Britannicum (1816), The Naturalist's Pocket Book (1817), and A Monograph on British Grasses (1822). From 1817, he oversaw the hand-colouring and publishing with William Jackson… Read More

Title page, 20 hand-coloured engraved plates with corresponding pages of explanatory text. Twenty fine hand-coloured engraved portraits by R. Cooper of famous contemporary actors and actresses after paintings by Harlow, Sharp, Clint, De Wilde, Waldeck, and others.Actors include Sarah Siddons as Lady Macbeth, Edmund Kean as Richard III, ballerinas Mlle. Lisa Noblet and Mlle. Felicite Hullin, ballet dancer Etienne Le Blond, opera singer Giuseppe de Begnis, Samuel Simmonds as Baron Munchausen, Henry Gattie and Mme. Maria Theresa Bland in the farce Monsieur Tonson, Sarah Booth, Frances Copeland, Charles Young, etc.Daniel Terry (1780-1829) was an English actor and friend of Sir Walter Scott, many of whose novels he adapted for the stage.Condition: Half honey-coloured leather binding with five raised bands, gilt leather title label, marbled boards. Interior clean and bright with fine hand-colouring, slight discoloration to title page.

Very good set of this fine British flora, the first to rival James Sowerby's English Botany from 1791. Complete with 509 hand-coloured copperplates engraved by Charles Mathews after botanical illustrations by Mathews, Isaac Russel (an Oxford glass painter) and William Alfred Delamotte. The plates were reputedly hand-coloured by Baxter's daughters and daughter-in-law. George Claridge Druce in The Flora of Berkshire, 1897, writes, "The plates of this work, although of unequal merit, are in many cases very excellent and possess a special value, because each figure is drawn from an individual plant, the locality or origin of which is usually stated."First issued in parts from 1832, and later in book form from 1834. This set states Second Edition, 1834, on the title page of Vol. I, but all other volumes are 1st edition: Vol. II 1835, Vol. III 1837, Vol. IV 1839, Vol. V 1840, and Vol. VI 1843. Six volumes bound in 3.William Baxter (1787-1871), was a British botanist, author, curator and head gardener of the… Read More

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

Very good copy of the first edition, complete with all 50 copperplate engravings
Two volumes bound in one, title page to Vol. 1 only bound in at front
Subjects range from the 15th to the 18th centuries, and include Lady Margaret Beaufort (mother to Henry VII), traitors Thomas Percy and Sir John Hotham, knight in armour Sir George Villiers, judge Sir Henry Martin, Frances Lady Seymour (in bosom-revealing Elizabethan dress), archbishop Richard Stearne, courtier Sir Henry Sidney, politicians Claud Hamilton and Sir Edward Seymour, Henrietta Anne Duchess of Orleans (daughter of Charles I), adventurer Sir Robert Shirley in Persian costume, Lord Chancellor Philip Yorke, and Rachel Russell, Anne Howard, Countess Portland, Lady Seymour, etc., the famous "Petworth Beauties" in decollete dresses.
The portraits taken from paintings by Sir Peter Lely, Jean Charles Nocret, William Nelson Gardiner, Michael Dahl, William Hoare, Arnold Bronckorst, William Larkin, tomb effigies by Nicholas Stone, rare prints, busts and… Read More