Genera Plantarum. Ad exemplaria imprimis in Herbariis Kewensibus servata definita.

London, Reeve, 1862-1883. Three volumes [seven parts] in three. Thick 8vo (23.3 x 16.1 cm). 3,611 pp. [I: xv, 1,040; II: viii, 1,279; III: xi, 1,258]. Contemporary uniform quarter calf over iridescent boards. Spines with four raised bands; compartments blind-tooled, with gilt ornamental bands and title. Patterned edpapers. Marbled edges. Rare complete, uniform bound set from the "golden age" of descriptive botany, published over a long time and edited by two of the foremost British botanists of the second half of the 19th century, George Bentham (1800-1884), and Charles Darwin's closest friend, John Dalton Hooker (1817-1911). This monumental synthesis - later dubbed the Bentham & Hooker sysyem - was based on critical analysis of the material in the Kew Herbarium and Gardens and is a masterly and meticulous extension of Candolle's outdated system. Boards rubbed, and that of the first and second part detached, with the front board of the first volume detached from the spine cover. Library stamps on titles, pencilled ticks and other signs of use, but in all still quite a good set. Stafleu and Cowan, 429.