SANDER, Henry Frederick Conrad.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Reichenbachia, Orchids illustrated and described. Imperial edition, copy 51 of 100 copies signed by Sander. Published during the heyday of the late Victorian orchid mania, Sander was the foremost authority on the Orchidaceae, as well as the largest grower, maintaining nurseries in England, Belgium, and the United States. He had agents gathering plants worldwide, often dangerous work, and he reports in the description of one orchid: "Orchidists are familiar with the names of Wallis, Endrès, Klaboch, Falkenberg, Schröder, Arnold, Douglas, and others, who have died in the cause of botanical science". He named the work in honor of Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach, a natural historian whose province was orchids (Reichenbach's library, drawing and specimens are in the Naturhistorisches Museum of Vienna). The illustrations are largely after the work of Henry George Moon, and these are of great elegance.The colour plates in this Imperial edition are of the same size as those of the regular unlimited edition, but were issued mounted to large sheets of card, and these sets were apparently intended for presentation by Sander. The distinction between these two editions is sometimes overlooked: it is an especially commanding work in this form, and also rare thus.

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