Orchids of Guatemala; Volumes I and II

Chicago Natural History Museum. Chicago. Volume I: published in 1952 (Fieldiana: Botany, Vol. 26, No. 1; pgs 1-395) . Volume II published in 1953 (Fieldiana: Botany, Vol. 26, No. 2.; pgs. 399 - 727). First Edition, dates on title pages. Both volumes in half bindings with leather spines and corners and green cloth covers. Spine of each includes four raised ribs; a black spine label with title is present only on Volume I. There is some bumping to corners and top of spine on both volumes. Volume II has a small white spot on the front and rear covers. Overall, the covers of both volumes are in very good condition. The binding of volume I is solid. The binding of volume II is intact, although the front cover is beginning to separate on the inside hinge. There is no writing detected on interior pages; there is some staining on the top of about 20 pages or so in Volume II. Volume I contains a frontis (of Lycaste virginalis) and illustrations 1-107; Vol. II contains illustrations 108-198. Many of these black/white illustrations are full page drawings of orchid species and are in very good condition. The illustrations were completed by several different artists listed in Volume I (including Gordon Dillon and Dorothy Allen). The endpapers of both volumes are green with some brown stains at the edges, and contain a very small stamp ("For The Chronica Botanica"). The page edges on both volumes have some minor soiling in areas. These volumes do have some condition flaws, but they are in good (+) condition and contain some terrific illustrations and information on 527 species and 25 varieties of orchids representing 89 genera found in Guatemala and British Honduras.