The Natural History of Barbados

London. Printed for the Author. 1750. folio. 39cm, large paper copy, subscriber's issue, [xiv],vii,[i,],314,[xx],p., [subscriber's list,errata with printed addition laid down, addenda, index], plus large folding map of Barbados by Thomas Jefferys, 30 copper engraved plates,5 text illustrations, many initial letter and header & tail devices,(including many beautiful elaborate floral devices and a few with vignette views), rebound in quarter tan calf, raised blind ruled bands, gilt titles, marbled boards, some slight transfer but a fine attractive tall copy of the large paper issue. (cgc). The book is handsomely printed, the majority of the plates are finely executed from drawings by the great plant artist, Georg Dionysius Egret. Each plate bear the arms of one of Hughes' patrons. This is a important book on the natural history of one of the main British colonies in the Caribbean. Hughes spent most of his career in Barbados. He was patronized by English gentlemen in return for supplying them with seeds. Most of the book is devoted to plants, although there is a section at the end regarding fish. Hughes is believed to have been born in England in 1707 and was a student at St. John's College, Oxford, where he graduated with a B.A. and then M.A. in 1748. He was Rector of St Lucy's, Barbados, and made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1750, the year this work was published. Hughes also contributed a paper 'Of a Zoophyton resembling the Flower of the Marigold' to the 'Philosophical Transactions' - "A standard work on the early natural history of the Island". Woods. Casey Woods, p393. Cox II-p219. Nissen 950; Sabin 33582; Hunt 536. Great Flower Books p60. European America 750/168.