Beschreibung:

Objektsbeskrivning FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE FINEST WORKS ON MUSHROOMS. SOWERBY, JAMES. Coloured figures of English Fungi or Mushrooms. London (J. Davis - R. Wilks and sold by the Author). 1797, 1799, 1803, 1809 (-1815). 3 volumes (with the Supplement). Folio (c. 335 x 205 mm.). With 440 hand-coloured engraved plates on 436 leaves (complete, the plates are printed using a single base colour and they all are finished by hand, only a few plates with slight foxing and some offsetting, otherwise very clean plates, one corner torn away, all plates with finely manuscript writing in the lower part of the plate; text partly foxed or spotted, manuscript numbers to each fungi). Untrimmed in contemporary worn and damaged half calfs, one cover detached, split joints and partly damaged spines (Quinton bookbinder, Norwich). Small antiquarian cut on first free end paper. Collation: (4), (52) pp. (incl. 2 titles, 1 duplicate, dedication leaf and preface), (48), (84); Supplement 1805 (4), (2, dedication 1809), (2, Introduction), (18), (10, Index I-III). All text in volume one apart from titles to vol. II and III. Nissen BBI 1874. FIRST EDITION of one of the finest works on mushrooms and fungi with the rare supplement. Dedicated to Sir Joseph Banks and J. E. Smith. Sowerby did all the drawings and engravings of the plates.The supplement was never completed. James Sowerby (1757-1822), English naturalist, illustrator and mineralogist. Provenance: The consigners' family is related to James Sowerby (1757-1822) through their great grandmother, who was the daughter Charlotte Ann Sowerby (Lottie), later married Bryant. The family's grandmother later bought this work in London in the 1920's.