Lemaire, Charles, Jean Jules Linden, Ambroise Verschaffelt, et al | A rare complete run of L'illustration horticole

Lemaire, Charles, Jean Jules Linden, Ambroise Verschaffelt, et al

L'illustration horticole journal special des serres et des jardins ... Gand: F et E. Gyselnyck, 1854-1896

43 volumes (sized variously from 256 x 170 to 348 x 257 mm). Approximately 1,495 lithographed plates and illustrations, all but a few hand-coloured or chromolithographed, some double-page, with tissue guards; a few trimmed or adhering to tissue guards, some foxing, browning, and offsetting, a few primarily closed tears generally not affecting plates. Years 1854-1886 bound in half green morocco and marbled paper-covered boards, spines with semi-raised bands in five compartments, seconds gilt-lettered, fourth gilt-numbered, initialed “A.P.” in gilt at foot, years 1887-1893 bound in half red morocco and black cloth covered boards, flat spines gilt-lettered, years 1894-1896  bound in half blye cloth and marbled paper-covered boards, flat spines gilt-lettered; extremities rubbed, some chips to morocco, some joints starting. [With]: A bound volume of related ads, cover title “Des Announces de L’Illustration Horticole. 1894, 1895, 1896”.

A rare complete run of L'illustration horticole. L’Illustration Horticole was founded in 1854 by Ambroise Verschaffelt, a third-generation Belgian nurseryman, and edited for its first 16 years by Charles Lemaire, a prominent botanist. In 1869, Jean Jules Linden, the prominent horticulturist, purchased Verschaffelt’s nursery and took over directorship of the publication. In 1870, he replaced Lemaire with the French horticulturist Edouard André as editor, and changed the title to L’Illustration Horticole: Revue Mensuelle Des Serres et Des Jardins, beginning with volume 17 (1870). The title was changed again in the 1880s to L’Illustration Horticole: Revue Mensuelle Des Plantes Les Plus Remarquables. From the mid-1880s, orchidologist Émile Rodigas served as editor. This periodical continued until 1896, after which it was combined with the Lindens’ Le Journal des Orchidées [The Journal of Orchids], also edited by Rodigas, and became a new periodical, Le Semaine Horticole [Horticultural Week].

Jean Jules Linden was a prominent horticulturist and publisher, with a particular interest in orchids. At just 19, he was selected for a government-sponsored botanical expedition to South and Central America, where he traveled until 1844, collecting new orchid species. From 1845, he worked as a plant dealer in Luxembourg and Ghent, eventually founding the nursery Horticulture Internationale in Brussels, where he imported and introduced new plants, including over 1,100 species of orchids. In addition to orchids, Linden is credited with popularizing begonias, camellias, and palm trees to Europe, introducing various species there. 

Sold as a periodical, not subject to return.

REFERENCE: 

Nissen BBI 2343

PROVENANCE:

Early ownership inscriptions to front free endpapers — Robert Meehan Scully (bookplates to front free endpapers)