RAFINESQUE, Constantine S.

Medical Flora; Or, Manual of the Medical Botany of the United States

Item #46598

RAFINESQUE, Constantine S. Medical Flora; Or, Manual of the Medical Botany of the United States OF NORTH AMERICA. Philadelphia. 1828/30. Two volumes. [8],xii,268;276pp. plus one hundred plates printed in green. Bound in are two copies of the titlepage and dedication leaf of first volume. 12mo. Modern calf, gilt morocco spine label. Early ownership signature on front free endpaper and head of first titlepage in first volume. Scattered light foxing. Discreet, almost invisible blindstamp of a defunct institutionon each plate. Very good. TAXONOMIC LITERATURE 8579. SABIN 67457. NISSEN (BBI) 1579. FITZPATRICK 554,557. The most important work of the eccentric polymath naturalist, Rafinesque, based on his fifteen years' experience collecting American medicinal plants. Rafinesque visited the United States in 1802-4, returning as a permanent resident in 1815. He travelled extensively in the eastern and midwestern United States, and was professor of natural history at the University of Kentucky in the early 1820s, making a significant contribution to American botany. This book, self-published in an individual style, as with many of his productions, contains cataloguing of hundreds of American medicinal plants. It is illustrated by one hundred plates printed entirely in green. This is Rafinesque's most extensive work, as well as being one of his most important contributions. As with all of his works, it is quite rare.

Price: $6,500.00