PLATES PREPARED BETWEEN THE YEARS 1849 AND 1859, TO ACCOMPANY A REPORT ON THE FOREST TREES OF NORTH AMERICA.
Gray, Asa:
Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1891 [but plates actually ca. 1849-1859]. Original printed front wrapper and one leaf of text. Plus twenty-three chromolithographic plates (two folding) numbered 1-4, 8, 10, 20, 25, 27, 30, 31, 34, 35, 39, 40, 41, 46-50, 52, 63 (complete as issued). Folio. Text and plates loose, some slight chipping and staining at edges (most noticeable in the lower outer corner of plates 48 and 49). Good. In a half morocco and marbled boards box, spine gilt. Shortly after the formation of the Smithsonian Institution, the great American botanist, Asa Gray, was commissioned to produce a volume in its "Contributions to Knowledge" series on American forest trees. The idea was for a work with three octavo volumes of text and a quarto atlas. In 1850 the Secretary reported, "The illustrations are in the hands of the artists," that artist being Isaac Sprague. Sprague was self-taught, had apprenticed with John James Audubon, and was one of the most important and talented American botanical artists of the 19th century. Work was suspended on the present report while Gray was absent in Europe for two years. After this, funding could not be found, and the work as planned was never issued. In 1891, Secretary S. P. Langley decided to issue the plates which had been prepared, and the twenty-three plates which had been printed were issued with his brief explanatory introduction, after sitting unused for forty years. Most of the lithographic work was done by the firms of Tappan & Bradford, or Joseph Prestele. The very lovely plates depict a variety of tree flowers and leaves, including magnolias, tulips, maples, dogwoods, cherry, apple, and plum. A handsome, scarce, and little-known work on American trees. TAXONOMIC LITERATURE 2133. NISSEN (BBI) 751.
(Item ID: WRCAM35520) $7,500.00