[Rarebooks] fs: Loddiges Botanical Cabinet Vol. XIX....well, most of it anyway.

Thu Apr 1 23:21:23 EST 2004

THE BOTANICAL CABINET consisting of Coloured Delineations of Plants from 
all Countries, with a short Account of each, Directions for Management, 
&c. &c., by Conrad Loddiges & Sons,  Vol. XIX. The Plates by George Cooke.

London: Published by John & Arthur Arch. Cornhill
Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, Paternoster Row
and C. Loddiges & Sons, Hackney, 1832.

The Botanical Cabinet was issued by Loddiges in monthly fascicles 
between May 1817 and December 1833, with each part containing ten 
plates, later arranged into Volumes of 100 plates each and ultimately 
comprised of a set of twenty volumes containing 2000 plates.

This volume is a disbound copy of the small paper issue, and while the 
original half-leather and marbled paper boards are present, they are 
worn and the spine is lacking. This is the small paper issue, and would 
appear to be more of a collection of the regular monthly fascicles than 
part of a set if not for the full index of plates. There is an unevenly 
trimmed card stock present, engraved with the same information found on 
the title page of the regular issue, but normally there would be a 
separate engraved title page for every 10 plates. This is the partially 
colored edition, consisting of  a few full-color, but primarily 
partially-colored copper-engraved plates of flowering plants by George 
Cooke, after George Loddiges and others.

There are 90 plates (out of 100) present,  with facing letterpress page 
of descriptive text, both printed on one side only. The engraved plates 
are, of course, on a heavier stock than the text description. 
Forty-seven plates are partially colored, eight of which are fold-out 
plates, with the remainder fully colored. Several of the partially 
colored plates have varying degrees of later attempts to hand-color, and 
of the fully-colored plates, at least half are from the later 
hand-coloring. I suspect the book may have been used in watercolor 
instruction at the college. The colors used are primarily light yellow 
and green, and the green is significantly lighter than the original 
greens. A few of the later-colored engraved plates have watercolor 
smudges on the blank verso, perhaps testing the color.

Of the plates issued in this volume (Nos. 1801-1900), the following are 
missing:
1807, 1809, 1812, 1849, 1856, 1858, 1871-1873, 1875. There is a 3-page 
printed Index in alphabetical order, listing common and formal name of 
plant and corresponding plate number, with ‘W. Wilson, Printer….’ on verso.

The Nursery near Mare Street in Hackney that came to be known as Conrad 
Loddiges & Sons had it’s beginnings as the horticultural outlet founded 
by a German immigrant, John Busch. When Busch was sought out In 1771 by 
Catherine Empress of Russia to lay out her gardens 'in the English 
taste', his business was carried on by another German emigré, C. Joachim 
Loddiges, who arrived in England about 1761, and who eventually 
purchased the outlet from Busch.

For many years , J. Conrad Loddiges and his progeny  built the nursery 
into a world renown source of exotic plants, trees, and flowers from all 
over the globe. Beginning in 1812 to cultivate orchids, they continued 
as the principal commercial orchid cultivators in Europe until the 
closing of their establishment in 1852.  During those forty years the 
Loddiges were recognized as the most influential and authoritative in 
the field of orchid culture, as well as being noted for the production 
of camellias, which were introduced in the early 1800s.

These Nurserymen were among the first to use huge greenhouses for 
commercial purposes - Loddiges established theirs in 1827 - metal houses 
with curvilinear roofs. Loddiges also advertised more than thirty 
eucalypti and other species from Australia and New Zealand,  and no less 
than 1,393 species and varieties of Roses (1826) as well as an 
additional list of 66 "Chinese with varieties and Hybrids, along with 
two thousand greenhouse plants listed in the catalogue for 1830

J. Conrad’s sons, William and George Loddiges (1784-1846) took over the 
nursery later, but it was George who appears to be primarily responsible 
for the Botanical Cabinet, even to the extent of creating most of the 
drawings that George Cooke created the plates from, although it is 
believed that the ladies of the family had as much to do with this as 
George.  During his supervision of the firm, George Loddiges also 
supervised the planting of trees in the burial ground of The Abney Park, 
conceived as an arboretum for this Non-Conformist Cemetery. His son 
Conrad was laid to rest there in 1865, and Conrad's wife Susanna in 
1897, as well as their daughter Evelyn in 1893.

Conrad Loddiges (1821-1865 ), the son of George Loddiges (1786-;1846), 
and grandson of Joachim Conrad Loddiges ( c .1738-;1826), the latter two 
great horticulturists, inherited the famous nursery on Mare Street and 
shortly thereafter he closed the doors.  In all fairness, by the 1850s 
urban development, along with Industrialization and pollution, had 
engulfed the nursery at Hackney. In 1852, when its lease was almost 
expired and nursery land in Hackney was becoming worth far more as 
housing land, the nursery closed. Sir Joseph Paxton bought the last of 
Loddiges' considerable stock (for quite a tidy sum) for the newly 
reconstructed Crystal Palace, including a palm weighing 15 tons, the 
size of a three-story house, that was pulled from Hackney to Sydenham by 
thirty-two horses through the streets of London, an event that was 
featured in the London Illustrated News.

This is an ex-institutional copy with a Wilson College Library paste-on 
plate on one end-paper which states ‘Gift of Miss Katherine A. 
Taylor/1923/Class 582/Book L’.  There is a ‘Wilson College Library’ ink 
stamp at the top edge of the description page for plate 1861 (IRIS 
CRASSIFOLIA), and writing in pencil beneath description paragraph: 
'Botanical Cabinet/Conrad Loddiges & Sons/1832', through the description 
of plate number 1834, (at which point I’m certain some poor supervisor 
asked them what they thought they were doing) but no writing on the 
plates.

There are two blanks, one has a small hole approx. 1/8” in diameter near 
lower edge at gutter side. This small paper set of monthly catalogues 
was trimmed very close to the plate mark, and most of the upper plate 
margin is removed. The plate marks are still quite visible, especially 
from the blank side, and  the actual image area measures 6.5" x 4".

My initial intent was to rebind the remainder of this volume, however, I 
have some concern over how successful that would be given the lack of 
margin on the back margin and the way the thread was pulled through the 
paper on about half of the needle marks. While the back margin could 
possibly be reinforced or extended to re-bind, I am not sure enough of 
that to guarantee it. I have taken several photos to illustrate both the 
beauty of the engravings, and defects of the back margin:

http://palmerbooks.com/images/auction/EDITED/Botcabinet_1890b.jpg
http://palmerbooks.com/images/auction/EDITED/Botcabinet_1890a.jpg

http://palmerbooks.com/images/auction/EDITED/Botcabinet_1894b.jpg
http://palmerbooks.com/images/auction/EDITED/Botcabinet_1894a.jpg

http://palmerbooks.com/images/auction/EDITED/Botcabinet_1899b.jpg
http://palmerbooks.com/images/auction/EDITED/Botcabinet_1899a.jpg

And the petals on this illustrate the later yellow watercolor:
http://palmerbooks.com/images/auction/EDITED/Botcabinet_1900b.jpg
http://palmerbooks.com/images/auction/EDITED/Botcabinet_1900a.jpg

http://palmerbooks.com/images/auction/EDITED/Botcabinet_1857b.jpg
http://palmerbooks.com/images/auction/EDITED/Botcabinet_1857a.jpg

http://palmerbooks.com/images/auction/EDITED/Botcabinet_1897b.jpg
http://palmerbooks.com/images/auction/EDITED/Botcabinet_1897a.jpg

For a disbound volume, the paper is in very nice condition, with the 
exception of the back margin issue.

If you are interested in this collection of plates but need further 
information, please do not hesitate to contact me. Additional photos 
supplied on request. I only ask that you do not tell me if you plan to 
hang them on your wall. Please.

$300.00 Net.

Regards,
Michelle Palmer
________________________________________

Palmer Books
301 N. Greenville Ave. #117
Allen, Tx. 75002
469-556-7379 Voice
214-547-8427
775-719-1396 Fax
mailto:info at palmerbooks.com

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