MICHAUX, Francois-Andre (1770-1855), and Thomas NUTTALL (1786-1859). The North American Sylva; or, a Description of the Forest Trees of the United States, Canada, and Nova Scotia. Philadelphia: Rice, Rutter & Co., 1865.

5 volumes, 8vo (263 x 167 mm). Engraved portrait frontispiece in vol. I, 277 hand-colored engraved or lithographic plates. (Some minor spotting or staining, some light offsetting or toning.) Original brown morocco, spines gilt-lettered and blind-stamped, edges gilt (rebacked preserving original spines, scuffing to sides, some light wear).

Third American edition of Michaux, and second edition of Nuttall. "Few American color plate books had such lasting popularity as this classic work on American trees, or as tangled a publication history... In 1856 a fire destroyed the premises of the publisher of the joint edition. The Michaux plates were saved, but the Nuttall stones were evidently lost, and the later joint editions used new stones" (Reese, Stamped with a National Character: Nineteenth Century American Color Plate Books 21). Nissen BBI 1361 & 1458; Sabin 48695 & 56351 ("Of the two works united, it is no exaggeration to remark that it is the most complete work of its kind and is a production of unrivaled interest and beauty").


Selections from Antiquariat Botanicum, Dr. Eugene Vigil