Illustrations of the Natural Orders of Plants. Arranged in groups; With Descriptions by TWINING, Elizabeth (1805-1889) - 1855

London: Joseph Cundall [vol. 1]; Savill & Edwards for Day and Son [vol. 2], 1855. 2 volumes, folio. (19 x 13 inches). 160 hand-coloured lithographic plates, heightened with gum arabic, by and after Twining, printed by Day & Son. Expertly bound to style in half green morocco and period green cloth covered boards. Provenance: Rugby School (presentation inscription from the author) First edition of a lovely and rare folio flower book, with hand-coloured plates. The fine plates depict plants arranged by botanical families using de Candolle's classification. Where a family is known to include a British member this is included, and each plate includes between two and seven members of each family. This method produces fascinating groupings of plants seldom seen together: British with Amazonian, Italian with Himalayan, etc. The plants are generally arranged with a fine artistic sensibility on the plate, but clearly retain a careful scientific accuracy. Elizabeth Twining, philanthropist, educator and botanist, was a member of the famous tea-merchant family. She began drawing plants and flowers at a young age. The present work, her masterpiece, is largely after images drawn by her from specimens at the Royal Botanical Gardens and Lexden Park. An octavo second edition, with the plates reduced and printed in colours, was published in 1868. Great Flower Books (1990), p. 78; Nissen BBI 2018; Pritzel 9591; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 15.410.