A Magnificent collection of Botanical Books.The Finest Colour-Plate Books from the Celebrated Collection of Robert de Belder

London, Sotheby's, 1987. 4to. 388 botanical books described in 425 pages. Sotheby's, London, 1987. Cloth. Book Condition: Good. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Burgandy cloth with gilt titles on spine and cover; 426 pages. RARE.Book Description: Sotheby's, 1987. 4to. Original cloth gilt with pictorial onlay. Pp. 425, illustrated throughout, mostly in colour. 388 lots of "the finest collection of botanical colour-plate books ever offered at auction". Fine condition. A Magnificent Collection of Botanical Books, Being the Finest Colour-Plate Books from the Celebrated Library Formed By Robert De Belder Book Description: Sotheby's, London, 1987. Cloth. Book Condition: Good. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Burgandy cloth with gilt titles on spine and cover; 426 pages. Has some rubbing to the cover cloth, but the text is as-new, and the binding square and tight. Beautiful color plates. Cloth with mounted colour illustration on front board (as issued), 4to, 425 pp, profusely illustrated with colour plates, 388 lots. The catalogue introduction claims this to be "the finest collection of botanical colour-plate books ever offered at auction". Robert de Belder, a diamond merchant, who bought and restored the Kalmthout Arboretum in Belgium in the 1950s, built up the greatest private collection of botanical books in the world, securing many of the very best copies from the Arpad Plesch collection, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Library, virtually the entire rare book collection of the Horticultural Society of New York, as well as many other distinguished collections. His collection was initially offered for sale en bloc without success, before being acquired by Quaritch who finally consigned the colour-plate books to auction - in the process revolutionizing price levels for this sort of material. Catalogued here are some 388 lots being the chief monuments of botanical illustration from the period 1600 -1900. Each lot is carefully described and annotated, with the great majority of lots illustrated, usually in colour. Fine.