[Flora Danica]. Icones plantarum sponte nascentium in regnis Daniae et Norwegiae, in ducatibus Slesvici et Holsatiae, et in comitatibus Oldenburgi et Delmenhorstiae - Volumen primum (-Volumen septimum decimum) + Supplementum by OEDER, Georg Christian; MÜLLER, Otto Friedrich; VAHL, Martin Hendriksen; HORNEMANN, Jens Wilken; LIEBMANN, Fredrik Michael; LANGE, Johan Martin Christian - 1761

Copenhagen: N. Möller and others, 1761. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Near Fine. 1st Edition. Hardcover. 1761-1883. 18 volumes, folio (368 x 239 mm) including Liebmann & Lange's supplement (1874), plus 1 volume (Lange's Index) 4to (260 x 205 mm). Each folio volume in 3 fascicles (together 54) and each fascicle with 60 plates. Altogether 3240 hand-colored engraved and etched plates, all except supplement with consecutive Roman numbering, and c. 366 leaves of text (including fascicle- and volume title-pages). Each plate bears the inscription Flora Danica except for the supplement vol. which is inscribed Supplementum Florae Danicae). The first 2360 plates with the Latin plant names added in neat manuscript. The general titles of the first 10 vols are printed in red and black. Variant title pages for vols. 7-12 present. The set is uniformly bound in contemporary full calf (vols. 1-6) and matching 19th-century three-quarter calf over marbled boards (the remainder of the set); each vol. with gilt-lettered red morocco spine labels and gilt ruling, red sprinkled edges (later bindings rebacked with the general titles reattached, light rubbing to extremities). The text and plates are bright and clean throughout; the paper of the later volumes 14 to 17 is somewhat browned; a few plates are slightly shaved with partial loss of text (19 plates) or illustration (14 plates); light finger-soiling is present in places. Provenance: Massachusetts Horticultural Society (MBH, large bookplate to front pastedown of each vol. and small stamps to plates; sold at Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, 1 Oct. 1980, Important Botanical Books from the Collection of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, lot 117, USD 46,000). ----

COMPLETE SET WITH ALL THE PLATES IN FINE CONTEMPORARY HAND-COLORING. Arguably the finest set that has come to market in the past 50+ years.
The Flora Danica is one of the most ambitious botanical publications of its age. It can be reagarded as the most comprehensive illustrated survey of the wild plants of Denmark and its adjacent regions, from the far side of the Elbe to the Arctic Sea. Its 3240 plates include flowers, grasses and fungi, with Nissen praising the engraved illustrations as the best in their field, combining precise scientific accuracy with great aesthetic merit. Dunthorne calls it "superbly coloured, mostly very minute and accurate, colouring sufficiently opaque to conceal engraved lines."
The publication project, in order to be successful, "required the strong and steady commitment of a sponsor, and such was fortunately available in the persons of five successively reigning monarchs of the Royal House of Denmark who provided both the financial and moral support. The merit for convincing King Frederik V of Denmark (1722-1766) to adopt the proposed plan and support the project clearly belongs to Georg Christian Oeder (1728-1791), who became the flora's first author and editor, from 1762-1771. [...] In accordance with the methods of reproduction available in the second half of the 18th century, copperplate etchings and engravings were chosen to illustrate the plants, and because of the high costs involved, the subscription method of publication was selected. Each fascicle was to consist of 60 plates with accompanying text, and five fascicles were to form one volume. The plates were available either hand-colored or plain. The first fascicle, though dated 1761, appeared in 1762, and thus began one of the most successful botanical publications ever. The only change subsequently instituted was to have three (rather than five) fascicles form one volume. The switch was announced in fascicle 5, 1766, and title-pages for volumes 1 and 2 were issued at the same time, both dated 1766. In spite of difficulties caused by later changes in the authorship and editorship, a more or less steady flow of fascicles was produced over the next 121 years - altogether 54 fascicles (18 volumes) with 3240 plates and 366 leaves of text (including fascicle and volume title-pages). The costs for collecting the specimens of plants to be illustrated, the artists who designed the drawings, the copper plates and the craftsmen who did the engraving and hand-coloring, were all borne by the King, while the paper and printing costs had to be defrayed by the author/editor in charge at the time. This explains why no commercial publisher's imprint is found in the work at all; only printers' and (in earlier fascicles) book-dealers' names are stated. [...] In addition to Oeder, five other botanists were mainly responsible for the continuous production of Flora danica: Otto Fridrich Müller (fasc. 11-15, 1775-1782); Martin Hendriksen Vahl (fasc. 16-21, 1787-1799); Jens Wilken Hornemann (fasc. 22-39, 1806-1840); Frederik Michael Liebmann (fasc. 41-43, suppl. fasc. 1, 1845-1853) and Johan Martin Christian Lange (fasc. 44-51, suppl. fasc. 2-3, 1858-1883). Fascicle 40, 1843, was jointly edited by Joachim Frederik Schouw and Jens Laurentius Mostue Vahl" (Buchheim, p.161-2).
According to Buchheim, 12 complete sets of the original edition of the Flora Danica, both b/w and colored, are known to exist (including ours ex MBH).
Bibliography & References: Dunthorne 218; Sitwell & Blunt, Great Flower Books (1700-1900), p.124; Hunt 594; Nissen BBI 2249; Pritzel 6799; Stafleu and Cowan 7001 and 7008; G. Buchheim, A bibliographical account of Icones plantarum sponte nascentium in regnis Daniae et Norvegiae, better known as Flora danica. In: Huntia 3(3), 1979, pp. 161-178. - Visit our website to see more images!