Curtis's Botanical Magazine, Vol. 72: Comprising the Plants of the Royal Gardens of Kew

Very good copy of Volume LXXII (72) of the whole series (Volume 2 of the Third Series) of Curtis's Botanical Magazine, 1846.

Complete with all 72 (11 folding) hand-coloured botanical plates (No. 4203-4274).

All plates drawn and lithographed by the prolific botanical artist Walter Hood Fitch.

Includes many exotic flowers and plants including 14 orchids such asPaphiopedilum, Cattleya, Acineta, Miltonia, Mormodes, Cycnoches, Catasetum, Lycaste and Bulbophyllum. Also includes plates of tropical plants such as Japanese hydrangea, bell-fruited mallee, magnolia, fuchsia, alligator-apple, angel's trumpet flower, lipstick plant, lotus, basket vine, etc.

The dynamic illustrations of flowers and leaves take up the whole plate, and are crammed with details of the seeds and fruits.

Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865) was one of the great botanists, professor at Glasgow University and later director of Kew Gardens in 1841. He edited Curtis's Botanical Magazine from 1826 onwards, and brought in talented young fabric printer Walter Hood Fitch in 1834.

Walter Hood Fitch (1817-1892) was a botanical artist from Glasgow, Scotland, who drew over 10,000 botanical illustrations in his long and productive working career. He drew some 2,700 lithographic plates for Curtis's Botanical Magazine over a period of more than 40 years, only leaving in 1877 after a pay dispute with new editor Joseph Dalton Hooker (Sir William's son).

Contemporary olive-green half leather binding, spine with five raised bands, gilt title and decoration, marble boards, slightly scuffed, marble endpapers, book block solid. All botanical plates bright and clean with vibrant hand colour, slight dusting, edge toning and offsetting, a couple of repaired tears.