English Botany: Coloured Figures of British Plants by James Sowerby, 1831 First Edition

"English Botany; or, Coloured Figures of British Plants, with their Essential Characters, Synonyms, and Places of Growth" by James Sowerby, published in London from 1790 to 1814, together with the five-volume "Supplement to the English Botany" by William Jackson Hooker and others, published between 1831 and 1866. This impressive first-edition collection presents a comprehensive illustrated record of British plant life, with approximately 2,998 hand-coloured engraved plates, some folding. The plates depict an extensive variety of flowers, trees, and other plants, making this landmark work a significant reference in British botanical illustration. The intended final plate, no. 2999, depicting "Fumaria muralis," was never published.

Forty-one volumes complete:36 volumes of "English Botany" and five supplement volumes. Octavo (5.5" x 9.25"). Bound in mid-nineteenth-century half green leather with leather corners over marbled boards. The spines feature five raised bands with gilt decoration, lettering, and volume numbers; the top edges are gilt, and the endpapers are marbled. The boards show light rubbing, minor scuffing and soiling, with some loss to the upper joint of volume 23 and to the heads of the spines of volumes 24–27. One or two front hinges are lightly cracked. Internally, there is some toning and offsetting, occasional scattered spotting, and light marginal dampstaining at the lower right corners of volumes 17, 21, and 22. The supplements show some toned leaves, spotting, and offsetting, mostly in volumes 2–4. The final supplement volume retains original quarterly wrappers bound at the rear, with two errata slips inserted.

Provenance: Bookplates of Leolyn Louise Everett (1888–1971), American poet and writer and daughter of railway magnate Henry A. Everett, appear on the front pastedowns. Antiquarian bookseller labels from James Miles of Leeds are present in a couple of volumes.

A remarkable and extensive botanical collection, prized for its hand-coloured engravings, historical scientific value, and handsome multi-volume bindings. An exceptional set for collectors of botanical illustration, British natural history, and antiquarian scientific books.