Bidspirit auction | F. Edward Hulme

F. Edward Hulme - Familiar Wild Flowers - F. Edward Hulme, 1897-1902. Published between 1897 and 1902 in London, Paris, New York, and Melbourne by the prestigious Cassell and Company, Limited, this superb collection comprising the first five series (First to Fifth Series) of the monumental work ”Familiar Wild Flowers, ” illustrated and described by the renowned naturalist Frederick Edward Hulme (F.L.S., F.S.A.), constitutes one of the classic and indispensable reference works on the wild flora of the United Kingdom. The five volumes, in octavo format with approximately 160 pages each, stand out for their exceptional botanical and iconographic value, containing a total of 200 magnificent chromolithographic plates (40 per volume) printed on high-quality, thick paper, which depict with remarkable scientific rigor and artistic sensitivity the enormous diversity of British wild flower species, accompanied by illustrated capital initials and black and white illustrations integrated into the text. The copies are bound in their stunning original publisher's dark green cloth bindings, displaying exquisite Art Nouveau-style phytomorphic decoration engraved in light green on the front covers and spines, with titles and ornaments elegantly stamped in gold, preserving clean page edges and a solid stitching structure. This lot is in excellent overall condition, with clean bindings, vibrant colors, and perfectly firm and immaculate text blocks. It is further enhanced by bearing the characteristic and illustrious pedigree of provenance from this specialized library, with the handwritten signature in black ink of the distinguished collector Valdemar Cordeiro in the middle of each volume's title, consolidating the exceptional historical lineage of this bibliophile collection that has been enriching this catalog.