One part (of 3) only, folio. Half-title; 12 plates total, comprising 6 stipple-engraved plates after Brookshaw in two states: hand-colored and uncolored. (Light spotting.) Original red paper boards, printed cover label (rebacked, covers soiled). Provenance: Isabella Lane Rice (large signature dated 1850 on front pastedown); Richardson Wright (signature dated 1933); gifted to The Horticultural Society of New York in 1939 (bookplate, their embossed stamps throughout).

The first part of the second edition of Brookshaw's finely illustrated series of natural history plates. "Botanical drawing books were popular during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as many amateur artists, especially female ones, were eager for instruction in the skill of painting flowers in particular...often with a handful of coloured plates facing or followed by uncoloured versions for the students to practise on. Brookshaw published a trio of these little books in 1817...but the first issues are exceedingly rare" (Pomona). Blanche Henrey, the botanical bibliographer, admitted to having seen "only the second edition of each of these works". Dunthorne 53, 55, and 54; Oak Spring Flora 91 (first part). IN THE RARE ORIGINAL BOARDS.