Exploring for Plants. From the notes of the Allison Vincent Armour Expeditions for the United States Department of Agriculture, 1925, 1926 and 1927.

Fine illustrated and antiquarian Botany . 1st. Ed. Pub. Macmillan, New York. 1930. pp.xx, [ii], 591 with b/w. photo. frontis., and b/w. photographs throughout. 8vo. Hardback. With a handwritten letter (dated Feb. 13th 1931) and a further handwritten note to Dr. A.J. Brooks, both from David Fairchild (on his headed paper) to the ffeps. Pages 463 to 468 neatly reattached, we presume by Brooks. Contents exceptionally clean and fine. Original green cloth boards with gilt lettering nr. fine. A wonderful, unique copy. David Fairchild (1869-1954) is one of the most famous plant hunters in history and was responsible for the introduction of around 200,000 plants and varieties of crops into the USA. His legacy also lives on in the form of the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami. Dr. A.J. Brooks was Director of Agriculture at Cape St. Mary, The Gambia. In the handwritten letter Fairchild warmly thanks Brooks for helping �transplant from the Gambia to America some most interesting trees, vines and forage crop plants and the Borassus Palm.�. Fairchild visited Brooks at Cape St. Mary, with Fairchild being very impressed with Brooks� garden which he said was very much like his own plant introduction gardens. This and their joint travels in the Gambia are elaborated on between p.461 to p. 475 in �Exploring for Plants�. In the handwritten note to Brooks, Fairchild lists 8 plants and trees that �are growing now here in South Florida�. Five of these eight specimens are also discussed within the same part of the book.