Beschreibung:

KING, George (1840-1909) and Robert PANTLING. The Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalya . Issued as: vol. VIII of Annals of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta . Calcutta: Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press; London: B. Quaritch, 1898. 4 volumes, 4 o (343 x 275 mm). 453 partly colored (see note below) lithographed plates by various Indian artists after Pantling. (First leaf chipped, occasional foxing and a few stains.) Modern red half morocco, by Period Binders. Provenance : William A. McCarty-Cooper (sale, Christie's New York, 25 January 1992, lot 90). FIRST SEPARATE EDITION, limited to 300 copies. "Three hundred copies of the book have been printed. In half the copies the lithographs have been lightly printed, and the flowers and their analyses have been coloured; in the other half the shading of the lithographs has been made darker, and they have not been coloured. The drawings have all been put on the stone by natives of Bengal educated at the Government School of Art in Calcutta. And the colouring has... been done by the sons of Nepalese coolies employed on the Government Cinchona Plantations, boys who had never until Mr. Pantling took them in hand been accustomed to use any implement more delicate than a hoe. Mr. Pantling's perseverance and skill in drilling these boys into accurate colourists has been a standing marvel to everybody who has seen them at work" (Preface). Great Flower Books , p.83; Nissen BBI 1051; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 3660. (4)