The ascendancy of the dutch nurseryman. First edition of this striking, hand-coloured Dutch botanical work, in beautiful contemporary calf.

'Nederlandsch Bloemwerk is a symbol and representation of the ascendancy of the Dutch nurseryman, the developer and disperser of tulips, hyacinths, and auriculas at the end of the eighteenth century. At the same time it takes a backward glance at the art of the gardener and of the flower-painter of a century and a half earlier, the golden age of Tulipomania' (The Hunt Botanical Catalogue 733). The plates 'effectively illustrate both the beginnings of tulip culture and the period when the cultivars of the double hyacinth are said to have numbered one thousand' (Hunt).

Though the author and artist are not credited on the title, the plates have been ascribed to the leading Dutch flower painter Paul Theodor van Brussel (1754-1795), who signed the engraving on the title page. Thirty of the plates are based on work by the 'famed painter of flowers' Nicolas Robert (1614-1685). The 'bugs, caterpillars, and moths are reminiscent of Maria Sibylla Merian; and indeed, Roberts did influence Merian' (Hunt).

First edition; 4to (26 x 20 cm); engraved title and 53 plates all finely hand-coloured, 20th-century bookplate, occasional small spots to contents; contemporary mottled calf elaborately gilt with urn and floral tools, green morocco label, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, a few small rubbed and scuffed areas on the binding, ends of spine skilfully conserved by Temple Bookbinders, corners just a little worn, excellent condition.

Hunt 733; Blunt & Stearn, The Art of Botanical Illustration, p90.