Benjamin Maund | The Botanic Garden [and related works], London, 1825-1826, 16 vols in all, contemporary green half calf

Benjamin Maund

Botanical works, comprising:

i) The Botanic Garden. London: Simpkin and Marshall, 1825-1826. 13 volumes, engraved additional title in each volume, volume 1 with engraved additional dedication to the Queen and dedication to the 'Lovers of Botany', 312 hand-coloured lithographed plates;

ii) The Auctarium of the Botanic Garden. [No date]. 2 parts in 1; iii) The Fruitist. [No date]. Numerous hand-coloured in-text engraved illustrations; iv) The Floral Register. [No date]. 2 parts in 1; 

Together 16 volumes, small 4to (224 x 178mm.), uniformly bound in contemporary green half calf, spines with raised bands in five compartments, sprinkled edges, green endpapers, scattered spotting, a few plates with some discolouration of pigments, spines faded to brown, extremities slightly rubbed

A RARE COMPLETE SET, and "a delightful work, not only full of useful and practical information, but illustrated with most charming plates carefully engraved and coloured" (Dunthorne). Benjamin Maund lived and worked in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire as a botanist, pharmacist and bookseller. He was a fellow of the Linnean Society from 1827 and served on the botanical committees of the Worcestershire Natural History Society. His magnum opus, The Botanic Garden, was published monthly over an astounding twenty-six year period. Most, if not all, of the original drawings for The Botanic Garden are now in the Natural History Museum in London. Several important artists contributed, including Mrs. Edward Bury, the artist of "Hexandrian Plants"; Miss E. Maund; Miss S. Maund; E.D. Smith and Mills.

LITERATURE:

Dunthorne 198-200; Great Flower Books, p. 85; Nissen BBI 2222, 2224; Stafleu TL2 5712

PROVENANCE:

Noted in the Bakeham House library inventory, 1937