The British Moss-Flora (3 volume set)

Second Hand
Hardback
Published by: Reeve
1st edition. Book Condition: Good+.

Small quarto half leather 3 volume set. Half bound in green leather with gilt spine bands and titles, green cloth covered boards and cream endpapers. Extremities uniformly bumped and rubbed with some wear, though not effecting titles. Bindings all solid. Internally all very crisp and clean; a little light foxing, more so to some plates. Overall Good+. Photos available on request. Interesting provenance and loose inserts. Attractive bookplate to vol. 1 front pastedown of the distinguished Eleonora Armitage, who bought this set in 1908 and had it bound in 1913 (according to her FFEP inscription). Also inserted loosely in the front is a mounted daguerreotype style photograph of Braithwaite, originally given by Braithwaite to H Beesley, Braithwaite’s biological executor, in 1915, shortly before his death, later presented to Armitage by Beesley. Also included is a relatively modern photo of Braithwaite, a brief biography of both Beesley and Armitage, and, more interestingly, a handwritten 9-line note in Armitage’s hand which claims to be ‘Dr Braithwaite’s translation’ of Linnaeus’s pupil, the German botanist Friedrich Ehrhart (from Hannover Magazine, 1780) beginning: “Oh consider and behold the marvellous works which nature presents to you…” The bryologist Eleanora Armitage (1865-1961) was a founding member of the Moss Exchange Club, the British Ecological Society and the British Bryological Society, as well as a member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science as well as the Royal Horticultural Society. She was an accomplished collector and her herbarium is now held at Bristol Museum.