Lot 118C email save

NEW ZEALAND, Ferns. - Eric CRAIG (1829-1923, comp

Sign In to see what this sold for

Auckland: [n.d. but c.1880]. 4to (294 x 214 mm). "title" with the purple ink business stamp of Craig with mounted fern specimens above and below, 29 leaves, the recto of each with a letterpress label listing the Linnean binomial, with compositions made up from mounted specimens of species of fern and occasional samples of moss. Original green morocco-backed bevelled Kauri-wood boards, with small purple paper label on front pastedown "Bound for / Eric Craig ...", the upper board carved with a decorative outer border enclosing a central panel with criblé-work oval panel carved away to leave the title "New / Zealand / Ferns" in raised letters, the lower cover with decorative borders, moiré paper endpapers. Condition: title and four other leaf with small losses to the specimens, spotted; spine chipped and rubbed, small chips to covers, old repaired split to front free endpaper. Provenance: Lynn Abbott Trust. a fine example of a professionally-produced fern album from the emporium of one of new zealand's best known fern collectors and retailers. Eric Craig was a dealer in tribal artefacts, curios and natural history specimens. The present album is similar to one with an inscripion dated 1879 (see 'fernbook.co.uk'), and can therefore be dated tentatively to about 1880. This date is supported by the knowledge that Craig was awarded a certificate at the Sydney International Exhibition 1879 "for two albums of New Zealand Ferns bound in Kauri." However, an advertisement, found in S. E. Cassino's Scientists' International Directory, notes that one of Craig's specialities was 'Mottled Kauri Covered Books'.

View Bloomsbury Auctions next auction.

Similar lots up for auction