Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens Characteres Plantarum quas annis 1802-1805 per oras utriusque insulae collegit et descripsit Robertus Brown; insertis passim aliis speciebus auctori hucusque cognitis, seu evulgatis, seu ineditis, paesertim Banksianis, in primo itinere navarchi Cook detectis. Vol. I
Londini [London], Typis Richardi Taylor et socii, 1810.
Octavo, viii, [145]-590, [2] (addenda) pages.
Contemporary limp roan; spine lettered in gilt; covers a little worn and creased, with recent expert conservation to short splits to the joints; minor loss to the title leaf in the upper margin (not affecting the text, and almost certainly done to remove an inscription); bottom edge marked; minimal silverfish damage (most notable on the second leaf); occasional neat annotations (most in pencil); some marks, faint foxing, and other signs of age and handling; notwithstanding, a very decent copy of a rarity.
'Memorable works on Flinders's voyage were published by two scientific members of the expedition: the naturalist Robert Brown and the natural history artist Ferdinand Bauer. After the shipwreck of the "Porpoise" in 1803 both Brown and Bauer decided to remain in Australia. After spending two years collecting specimens in Van Diemen's Land, Port Phillip, and New South Wales, Brown left the colony in 1805 aboard the newly-repaired "Investigator". In 1810 he published in London a famous work, described by his distinguished contemporary Sir William Hooker as "the greatest botanical work that has ever appeared". It is an octavo volume, written in Latin, entitled "Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van-Diemen ... Vol. I.". Only the first volume was published, probably because the book was not a commercial success. It is said that of the 250 copies of the first edition that were printed only twenty-six copies were sold. Brown removed the remainder from the market and from then on copies were only available from the author. In 1830 Brown published in London a short octavo volume of 40 pages to supplement the 1810 volume, "Supplementum primum Prodromi Florae Novae Hollandiae". Brown's "Prodromus" and its supplement are of greater interest to collectors of natural history books than to collectors of coastal voyages. Nevertheless, they make an interesting addition to a collection of Flinders material' (Wantrup, page 190). Wantrup 70; Ferguson 491.
Item #144040
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