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Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, The Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya; Being an Account, Botanical and Geographical, of the Rhododendrons recently discovered in the Mountains of Eastern Himalaya, from Drawings and Descriptions made on the spot, during a Government Botanical Mission to the Country, London: Reeve, Benham, and Reeve, 1849

14 pages, 7 (text leaves), title page with a hand-colored lithographic vignette, showing the Himalayan mountains, dedication leaf, [33], 30 hand-colored lithographed plates by Fitch, based on Hooker's dried specimens and field sketches, and description leaf for each plate; half green leather bound with matching green cloth boards and gilt text to the spine with 5 raised bands, all edges gilt
50.6 x 37.5 x 2.5 cm

1st edition, 1st issue.

An exceptional copy with bright plates of this magnificent botanical work, with thirty superbly hand-colored lithographed plates, of great interest for their accuracy of the drawing of the blossoms and parts and for their descriptions of provenance. Originally planned for ten plates only, the work was expanded following the positive reception by subscribers, and by John Hooker’s continuation of his explorations in the Himalayas.

"An important work both for the botanist and horticulturalist since it contains descriptions and plates of the best garden Rhododendron species which can be grown in this country and an account of their discovery." (Great Flower Books). Walter Hood Fitch, who executed the lithographs from the author's field sketches and dried specimens, was one of the most prolific and one of the best botanical artists of the nineteenth century.

"In his lithographs he has captured the exuberant form and color of these flowering shrubs... Sometimes at the base of the plate, magnified views of the pistils, stamens and sections of the ovaries are presented. The first plate is unusually attractive because the plant...is shown in its native habitat, growing among the trunks of fallen trees against a hazy background of blue mountains" (Oak Spring Flora).

The text was edited by Sir William Hooker (1785-1865) from his son's field notes sent back from India.

Hooker travelled through central and eastern Himalaya from 1847 to 1849, in the company of British government agent Archibald Campbell. The pair were briefly imprisoned by the Raja of Sikkim for encroaching on Tibetan territory but managed to collect some 7,000 botanical specimens. The lithographer Walter Hood Fitch was a long-standing collaborator of the Hookers, and The Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya is considered among the finest examples of his work. Fitch remained the chief artist for the Botanical Magazine for forty-three years, producing over 9000 drawings including some of the most memorable images of his age.

In 1855 Fitch prepared the lithographs, this time after drawings by local artists, for another book by Joseph Hooker, Illustrations of Himalayan Plants (concluding lot).

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