Collection of 28 fascicles (printed on large paper) of the very rare first edition of this standard work on the flora of Brazil. The first instalment of the Flora Brasiliensis was published in 1840 under the supervision of the Austrian botanist Stephan Friedrich Ladislaus Endlicher (1804-1849) and the German naturalist Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794-1868). The series was completed in 1906 with a total of 130 fascicles containing taxonomic treatments of 22767 species (mostly Brazilian angiosperms, of which 5689 species were described for the first time) and illustrated with 3811 lithographs. The high costs for publication were covered by the Brazilian government, which contributed annually from the beginning to the end. The series was also supported financially by King Ludwig I of Bavaria (1786-1868), Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria (1793-1875), and Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825-1891).
More than 60 distinguished European botanists contributed to this work
The texts of the separately published monographs were later divided into 15 volumes (comprising 40 parts), in our case they were placed in volume I(1-2), III(1), IV(1-2), V(1-2), VII, VIII(1), IX-X, XIII(1), XIV(1) & XV(1). Von Martius contribution Tabulae physiognomicae explicatae is spread over several fascicles and illustrated with 56 (out of 59, plates XVIII and LIII-LIV are missing) tinted lithographed views depicting Brazilian landscapes with native vegetation.
A rare collection of one of the most comprehensive documentations of plants in botanical history, a standard reference work for the identification of Brazilian and South American vegetation.
A complete list of contents including a detailed condition report is available upon request.
With a manuscript dedication in 6 fascicles, written in black ink probably by the editor C.F.P. von Martius; 4 (nos. XV, XVI-XVII, XVIII[3] & XIX) are dedicated to the Brazilian politician Sérgio Teixeira de Macedo (1809-1867, president of the province of Pernambuco in 1856-1857), 1 (no. XXXIV-XXXV) is dedicated to the French botanist and physician Henri Ernest Baillon (1827-1895), and 1 (no. XLIV) is dedicated to the French botanist Adolphe Théodore Brongniart (1801-1876). Some fascicles are unbound (loose leaves in paper wrappers) and the wrappers of some bound fascicles are damaged along the spine, all wrappers are somewhat soiled. Lacking the works by C.G.D. Nees von Esenbeck (titled Cyperaceae, cols. 1-226 with 30 botanical plates) and A.H.R. Grisebach (titled Smilaceae et Dioscoreae, cols. 1-48 with 6 botanical plates) in fascicles III, IV, & V (in this collection together); lacking 3 plates in Von Martius contribution Tabulae physiognomicae explicatae (which is spread over several fascicles, illustrated with 56 (of 59, plates XVIII and LIII-LIV are missing) tinted lithographed views; volumes 3 and 7 (fascicles III, IV, V and XI) lacking the back wrapper. Some occasional worm holes in the blank margins, and some occasional internal browning and soiling, the edges of the leaves are frayed. Otherwise in good condition. Borba de Moraes II, pp. 525-528; Bosch 425; Nissen BBI, 2248; Rodrigues 1559; Sabin 22562 and 44988; Sitwell/Blunt, Great flower books, p. 118; Stafleu/Cowan 5538.