Edwards, Sydenham

THE BOTANICAL REGISTER; Or, Ornamental Flower-Garden And Shrubbery Consisting Of Coloured Figures Of Plants And Shrubs, Cultivated In British Gardens; Accompanied By Their History, Best Method Of Treatment In Cultivation, Propagation, &c.The Designs By Sydenham Edwards, And Others. Volume XIV and Lindley, John "THE BOTANICAL REGISTER…Continued By John Lindley…" Volumes XV-XXX [twenty volumes total] (spine title: "Botanical Register New Series" and numbered I-XX)

James Ridgway: London, 1828-1847. Hardcover. Good. Item #22-8612

1,568 (1,567 listed) hand colored plates: single, double & foldout, 9.5 x 6", blindstamped full green morocco with raised bands, gilt lettering, gilt dec covers, ribbon page markers, marbled edges and endpapers, indexes in all volumes, pagination varies. Covers scuffed/scraped, rubbed and scratched, spines worn and rubbed, corners bumped, inner hinges cracked, scattered light foxing, offsetting from ribbons to plates in seven book (one per volume), two textblocks cracked, torn page corner and tiny nicks to two plates in Vol. XV, small dent to upper page edges of Volume XXIV resulting in small tears to four plates, a few volumes have warped covers (no signs of water damage), page edges dull, there are Plates 1203 A and B in Volume XIV but index lists two different Plate 38s, Plate 1951 (Volume XXXIII) is mislabeled as 1947A but it is listed correctly in the index. Textblocks tight. All volumes have plate indexes, some volumes have additional items "General Intelligence" and/or "Miscellaneous Matter". Of note: In Volume XX after Plate 1720 is "PIRACY" a two page "Extract From The Times Newspaper Of Nov. 8, 1834. Court Of Chancery, Friday, Nov. 7, 1834 Ridgway v. Henderson". (Ridgway is the publisher of "The Botanical Register"). An excerpt: "Mr. Kindersley moved for an injunction to restrain the defendant (Henderson) from continuing the publication of two numbers of a work in which it was alleged there were piracies from the work of the plaintiff (Ridgway). The counsel pointed out that in an original work the word supra was used in reference to a previous issue and in the counterfeit version it was used "for the name of some author". The Lord Chancellor ruled in favor of the plaintiff. The article goes on to express outrage about the "system of gross literary piracy". And now, provenance. In one of the volumes was a handwritten note on a slip of paper "Paid $20 a volume Mrs. Horace Dodge Sept. 27, 1971" and the numbers "1005" and "20" (written over the number 19). There was an auction by Christie's of "The Remaining Contents Of Rose Terrace, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, U.S.A….The Property Of The Late Mrs. Anna Thomson Dodge…September 27, 28 and 29, 1971" held at Rose Terrace, their lot number 1005 was for Edwards' "The Botanical Register", Volumes XIV-33(sic) but there were errors in the description, listing 1846 instead of 1847 and 19 volumes instead of 20. (This would explain 20 being written over 19 on the slip of paper). Very minimally described. Mrs. Anna Thompson Dodge was the widow of Horace Dodge, who, with his brother John, founded the Dodge Brothers Company. They had a mansion built, Rose Terrace, which after his death and her later remarriage, was no longer big enough or grand enough. The new Rose Terrace took three years to build and Mrs. Dodge spent most of that time in England acquiring furnishings for it. Did she acquire "The Botanical Register" overseas? Regardless of the wear, it is still a gorgeous set. The plates are bright and sharp, absolutely stunning. Extremely SCARCE to find a set, as most were broken up and sold individually. A total of twenty volumes, sold as a set only. Extra postage required.

Price: $14,500.00