[VICTORIA REGIA]. HOOKER, William Jackson, Sir (1785-1865) and Walter Hood FITCH (1817-1892). Victoria Regia, or illustrations of the Royal Water-Lily, in a series of figures chiefly made from specimens flowering at Syon and at Kew. London: Reeve and Benham, 1851.

Broadsheet folio (747 x 545 mm). 4 lithographs with hand-coloring; 11 letterpress leaves: title-page, dedication leaf, pp. [7]-20, [21]. (One text leaf with marginal hole repaired, a few tiny pinholes to plates occasionally touching plate, some very light soiling.) Modern blue morocco retaining an old (original?) blue morocco gilt title-label on upper cover. Provenance: Massachusetts Horticultural Society (bookplate recording the gift of George W. Smith, 1852, and one other bookplate).

FIRST EDITION OF THIS IMPORTANT WORK, INCLUDING SOME OF FITCH'S LARGEST AND MOST SPECTACULAR IMAGES

"One of the most celebrated plants from this period was the water-lily Victoria amazonica, originally called the Victoria regia by [John] Lindley in honour of England's reigning monarch. Discovered at the beginning of the century by European explorers, it created a veritable sensation in England when the eclectic and versatile Joseph Paxton (1803-1865) managed to coax the plant to flower [in 1849] while working at Chatsworth and Chiswick as head gardener for the Duke of Devonshire." (An Oak Spring Flora p.378). With its large floating leaves and white flower, the Victoria amazonica attracted costs of visitors to the gardens where it was cultivated. When he designed the glass and iron Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition in 1851, Paxon was reportedly inspired by the structure of the leaves of the plant. Great Flower Books, p. 60; Nissen BBI 919; Stafleu & Cowan TL2 3014 (noting 20 pages letterpress, and not noting p. [21]: "References to the Plates").