74 - [BOTANY] - COLLECTIVE

[BOTANY] - COLLECTIVE Monthly Journal of the Work of the Ghent Academy of Horticulture Ghent, F. and E. Gyselnyck Printing House, 1855–1859, 5 years in 1 vol. In-8°. Brown half-maroquin (label from the Ghent bookbinder Pernot-Verstraeten pasted onto the back cover). Spine with 4 raised bands adorned with gold beading, decorated with gold-embossed panels. Marbled edges. Endpapers preserved. Normal wear and tear. A collection of the first 5 complete years (the beginning of the series) of this major scientific and horticultural publication, published in the heart of the 19th-century world capital of floriculture. An exceptional testament to the golden age of the “Ghent Floralies,” this monthly journal features original papers, reports on exhibitions of rare plants, cultivation advice for greenhouses, as well as meticulous botanical descriptions written by the leading Belgian specialists of the time. The illustrations in this copy include several separate engravings, among them two plates of flowers in filled color, including a delicate lithographic composition signed by the Belgian artist and engraver Louis Stroobant. References: Bibliotheca Belgica, H-124; Pritzel, Thesaurus literaturae botanicae, 10842. Provenance: from the library of Philippe Kervyn of Volkaersbeke (ex-libris) Also included: [SCIENCES & POPULARIZATION] - ZIMMERMANN, W. F. A. - VALERIUS, Hubert The Phenomena of Nature, Their Laws, and Their Applications to the Arts and Industry. Brussels, Charles Muquardt - Paris, Gustave Havard / Schulz and Thuillié, 1858, 2 volumes In-8°. Black half-maroquin with corners (publisher’s binding?). Spine with 4 raised bands featuring a design of gilded panels and arabesques. Publisher’s name in gilt letters at the bottom of the spine. Scuffing; corners worn. Rare foxing. First edition and first printing of this important work of 19th-century popular science. Adapted from the work of the German naturalist Wilhelm F. A. Zimmermann (pseudonym of Carl Gottfried Wilhelm Vollmer), the text was entirely updated, expanded, and restructured by the Belgian scholar Hubert Valerius (1821–1898), professor of theoretical and applied physics at the University of Ghent. The book offers a comprehensive overview of the physical knowledge of the time and its immediate industrial applications (telegraphy, steam engines, photography). The first edition is illustrated with two beautiful color frontispieces and numerous woodcut figures interspersed throughout the text. References: Quérard, *La littérature française contemporaine*, VI, 612; De le Court, *Bibliographie nationale*, III, 412.