[SPECIMEN ALBUM - BRITISH MOSSES]. [PARNELL, William (1833-1906)]. "Preserved Specimens of British Mosses." [Dublin, ca 1850].

4to (241 x 185 mm). Album of pproximately 200 specimens of mosses on 76 leaves, some in contemporary blue or white paper envelopes, each accompanied by extensive manuscript descriptions of each specimen including names and locations. Contemporary diced sheep, marbled boards, by D. W. Carroll with his ticket. Provenance: Miss Dawes (inscription); sold Maggs Bros., 2002.

Parnell collected and identified these mosses using William Jackson Hooker's British Flora and Muscologia Britannica, and he reiterates in his Introduction that the study of mosses requires "the constant use of the microscope and the experience of no little patient perseverance." Parnell describes the general morphology for 3 Divisions, 3 Subsections, and 39 Genera. The text includes additional morphological details for specimens of individual species for each genus that he collection in different regions of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Parnell worked in the Herbarium at Kew and assisted with The British Flora. Hew as foreman at Glasnevein Dublin for many years. He concludes his introduction with a note of presentation for the album: "The work is now presented for acceptance to Miss Dawes as a very slight token of the respect and esteem in which she is held by the Author."

Selections from the Property of Dr. Eugene Vigil, Antiquariat Botanicum