collected by an anonymous person
A beautiful herbarium of 1000 specimens collected over the course of a year
[no place]: [no publisher], 1878-1879. An exquisitely compiled herbarium of over 1000 plants native to Europe, collected over the course of one year, meticulously chronicling the flora's growth throughout the seasons. Approximately 1051 specimens of all manner of flora mounted on 104 sheets further mounted onto leaves, some with exact collection dates, almost all specimens have been identified in their Latin name except the last 113. At the head of each leaf are sequential month and year. Bound in modern quarter tan calf over green cloth with five raised bands and green leather spine label lettered in gilt; fern patterned end papers. 11 x 17". Folio. Near Fine with only small ratio of loss to specimens, 17 to be precise, with some breakage to a few leaves and stems. Offsetting from specimens and some wear to edges.
A massive assemblage collected by an unidentified, fervent botanist over the course of an entire year. The book begins in December 1878 with seasonally humble speedwells, white dead nettles and catkins. Slowly, but surely, winter melts away in the collector's environment and tender spring ephemerals like snowdrops, blood root and hellebore are presented with clear excitement. The specimens truly become vivacious in the warmer seasons between May and June, where it seems pages are stacked, almost artistically, with perfectly preserved flag iris, large stalks of horsetail, bright examples of thistles and spindly tufts of wheat. It seems that toward the end, perhaps exhausted after weeks of collecting in the summer heat, specimens assembled in the colder months of October and November are more hastily affixed and without species name below. A particularly attractive herbarium that is well-preserved and lovingly assembled.