Art Nouveau floral desk seal. de [Art Nouveau] - c. 1900

London: Joseph Johnson, 1787. Duodecimo (155 x 95mm). Contemporary tree calf, spine gilt in compartments, marbled endpapers. 1810 ownership inscription to the verso of the front free endpaper, pencilled notes of a similar date to the verso of the rear blank. Binding lightly rubbed at the extremities, the corner of B6 torn, not affecting the text, light spotting to the contents. Very good condition. Third edition of this charming little book on the changing of the seasons from month to month by the "physician and man of letters" John Aiken (1747-1822) (Hahn, The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature). Aiken charming combines practical knowledge of nature and gardening with literary references. For April he writes: "This month gives the most perfect image of Spring; for its vicissitudes of warm gleams of sunshine, and gentle showers, have the most wonderful effects in hastening that universal springing of the vegetable tribes, from whence the season derives its appellation. April generally… Leer más

Munich: J. F. Schreiber & Deutsche Hochbild-Gesellschaft, c. 1920s. Painted plaster anatomical relief display in wooden frame (240 x 302 mm). Printed paper label to the rear. Housed in the original box with the stamp of the publisher's archive and two handwritten labels - one giving the name of the display and the other reading "F21". Also with the original tissue-covered cotton insert to protect the relief. A few very minor scratches and spots to the frame. There is some wear to the box and the tissue covering for the cotton padding is torn. Excellent condition. Uncommon, early-20th century anatomical relief of the European frog species Rana esculenta (the common European water frog, or green frog). The publisher's archive copy, in excellent condition in the original box. This relief was one of a series produced for schools, Vergleichende Anatomie der Wirbeltiere (Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrates), designed by the German behavioural scientist and educational writer Bastian Schmid (1870-1944)… Leer más

Munich: J. F. Schreiber & Deutsche Hochbild-Gesellschaft, c. 1920s. Painted plaster anatomical relief display in wooden frame (240 x 302 mm). Printed paper label to the rear. Housed in the original box with the stamp of the publisher's archive and two handwritten labels - one giving the name of the display and the other reading "F22". Also with the original tissue-covered cotton insert to protect the relief. Some minor spots and scuffs to the frame. Slight damage to the paper backing of the frame not affecting the its integrity. Some wear to the box. Excellent condition. Uncommon, early-20th century anatomical relief of the European lizard species Lacerta agilis (the sand lizard, here called the fence lizard). The publisher's archive copy, in excellent condition in the original box. This relief was one of a series produced for schools, Vergleichende Anatomie der Wirbeltiere (Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrates), designed by the German behavioural scientist and educational writer Bastian Schmid… Leer más

Thames Ditton: for private distribution, 1873 & 74. 2 volumes, octavo. Original green cloth, titles to spine and upper board gilt, yellow coated endpapers. Map. Corners and edges bumped, dampstains to both lower boards, small area of dampstain to edge of upper board of volume II, occasional light spotting to contents and edges of text block of volume II. A very good set. First edition, presentation set inscribed by the author on each title, "Mary Edmonds from the Author, H. C. W. 1873" and "Mary Edmonds from the Author, June 24th 1874". Inspired by the work of Alexander von Humboldt, Hewett Cottrell Watson (1804-1881) became Victorian Britain's leading phytogeographer, and his research contributed to Charles Darwin's Origin of Species. "Watson's major botanical endeavour was producing several versions of a work first entitled Outlines of the Geographical Distribution of British Plants (1832); it reached its most extensive form as Cybele Britannica, or, British Plants, and their Geographical… Leer más

Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office for the United States Department of Agriculture, 1915. Octavo. Original cream wrappers printed in black. 38 plates from photographs. Wrappers faintly toned, mild dampstain affecting the lower corner of the wrappers and text, with some abraded areas where the corners of the leaves have stuck together, not generally affecting text. Very good condition. First edition of this well-illustrated guide to mushroom identification for the amateur collector. The first female mycologist to work at the United States Department of Agriculture, Flora Patterson (1847-1928) exhibited "the tenacity, audacity, and perspicacity of a true scientific visionary" (Reynolds, "Flora Patterson", Women in Microbiology, p. 219). She initially studied fungi as a childhood hobby, then attended several universities as a non-traditional student, taking a plant pathology course at Iowa State and completing her education at Radcliffe College, from where she was able to work in the Harvard… Leer más