Half Morocco. Marbled paper pastedown.
1757 · London
by Hale, Thomas. John Hill.
London: T. Osborne, T. Trye, S. Crowder, H. Woodgate, 1757. Second Edition. Half Morocco. Marbled paper pastedown. . Very Good. First edition, hand-colored version, of this landmark botanical survey. Folio. 42 by 26.5 cm. [2], iv, ii, 714 pp., plus hand-colored frontis and 60 hand-colored numbered plates, with all plates engraved. Note that not all copies of the first edition were hand-colored. With first edition error points in pagination, with following pagination sequence: 591, 584, 595 594, 595, 598, 597, 598 . . . Posthumous work attributed to deceased Hale in part and also attributed to Hill. This copy had belonged to Mario Buatto, the "Prince of Chintz", one of the most famous of New York decorators and also a book collector. Condition: front joint cracked. Spots and other soiling on the leather. Buatto's name and date of acquisition are scrawled in a flair, not so attractively, on FFEP. Leaves with age toning and scattered light foxing. Plates with hand-coloring sometimes faded but usually quite bright. Overall, an appealing copy, and also a sturdy, tight one.
(Inventory #: 006604)