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WARNER,
Robert (1814-1896), Benjamin Samuel WILLIAMS (1822-1890) and Thomas MOORE
(1821-1887). The Orchid Album, Comprising Colored Figures and Descriptions of
New, Rare, and Beautiful Orchidaceous Plants. London: Published by B.S.
Williams, at the Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, 1882-1897.
11 volumes, large
quarto (12 1/4 x 9 5/8 inches).
(304 x 247 mm). Original
publisher's binding of brown decorated cloth, the upper cover and spine blocked
in gilt and black, the lower cover in blind, gilt edges. 528
lithographic plates by and after John Nugent Fitch on 527 sheets, partly
hand-colored, partly color-printed, plates 9/10 a double-page plate, uncolored
portrait of Williams (Occasional
light spotting, mostly affecting endpapers,
generally clean and colors fresh.) Original brown cloth gilt (spines
strengthened, extremities worn, new endpapers); Each volume is housed in a cloth
folding case.
FIRST EDITION OF THESE BEAUTIFUL PLATES. Benjamin Samuel William's obituary,
appearing in volume 9, recollects the intentions of this magnificent work:
"In 1881 he commenced his magnum opus, the Orchid Album, which was
projected with the idea of supplying a demand for illustrations of Orchidaceous
plants, with botanical descriptions of the plants figured, and notes on their
cultivation ... Its appearance was hailed with great satisfaction in
horticultural circles throughout the world, and it numbers among its subscribers
nearly all lovers of Orchids and many of our leading and most influential
horticulturalists." The illustrator, John Nugent Fitch (1840-1927), was the
nephew of the equally-prolific botanical artist Walter Hood Fitsch. His original
drawings for The Orchid Album are in the Natural History Museum, South
Kensington. Great Flower Books, p.80; Nissen BBI 2107; Stafleu
& Cowan TL2 6282. (11)
This important work was published periodically by B.S. Williams from his
nurseries in Holloway, London, from 1882 until his death in 1890. His son, Henry
Williams, continued the publication through to its conclusion in 1897. These
dates are important as they mark the final period when significant new varieties
of orchids were discovered in the wild. This work therefore, with its selection
based largely on the discoveries made during the nineteenth century, offers an
unparalleled record of all the best orchid varieties before the impact of the
'captive-bred' hybrids. The preface to the first volume lays out the aims of the
publishers `The great advances which have been made within the last few years in
the introduction and the cultivation of Exotic Orchids, have suggested the
desirability of devoting a monthly publication to the illustration of the best
forms of these singular and aristocratic plants, and also to the explanation of
the most successful methods of growing them'.
The plates by John Nugent Fitch (a member of the greatest family of British
19th-century botanical artists) benefit greatly from the large format of the
work `Being of Royal Quarto size, the pages of the Album are sufficiently large
to enable the artist to produce ample and intelligible portraits of the plants
without their becoming cumbersome'. The resultant work offers both a fascinating
insight into the state of knowledge about orchids and their cultivation, and
also an unrivalled visual record by one of the great botanical artists of the
day.
Great Flower Books (1990) p.149; Nissen BBI 2107; The Orchid
Observed 23.
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ITEM # W-11
PRICE $32,900