Ladies' Botany: or a familiar introduction To the Study of the Natural System of Botany by John Lindley

London: James Ridgeway and Sons A fair copy of the 2nd edition - undated but 1830's-40's, in the original cloth binding with 25 hand coloured plates. There is no indication that this is Part I, of Ladies' Botany, but it is the first volume of what later became a 2 volume set. It became a classic work, setting out, through a series of letters, how the plant world could be explained to children. This copy is classed as 'fair' because there is a lot of foxing to the text and offsetting from the plates to the text - particularly at Plate 9, which has strong red colouration. The tissue-guard to the frontispiece is very browned. The plates are generally cleaner - the plate paper has light toning. The binding is in good sound condition having had a fairly recent repair to relay the spine and provide new endpapers. The gilt titles to the spine are faded and there is a little marking to the boards. 302pp including index, with publisher's catalogue to the rear.