FITTON, Sarah Mary & Elizabeth. Conversations on Botany. With Plates. Eighth Edition. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, 1834. 12mo.
The eighth edition of this popular early nineteenth-century introduction to botany, attributed to Sarah Mary Fitton, with the assistance of her sister Elizabeth.
Published anonymously, the work is now attributed to the Irish sisters Sarah Mary and Elizabeth Fitton. Their names did not appear on the title pages of the successive editions, a circumstance which led earlier bibliographers to attribute the book variously, most notably to Jane Marcet, whose influential Conversations on Chemistry helped inspire its conversational form. The work proved an enduring success for Longman, passing through nine editions between 1817 and 1840. Its approachable conversational format brought the principles of Linnaean taxonomy to a broad readership.
Illustrated with 22 hand-coloured engraved plates, all present, depicting flowering plants and botanical structures together with ferns, mosses, lichens, fungi and seaweeds. The colouring remains particularly pleasing, with strong greens, blues and yellows.
Bound in contemporary green half calf over marbled boards, the spine with five raised bands, gilt decoration and red morocco lettering-piece.
A handsome example of a particularly appealing nineteenth-century botanical book, combining an attractive period binding with a fine suite of hand-coloured plates.
Size
18 × 11.5 cm.
Condition
Internally very good, with occasional light spotting and age-toning. The plates are generally clean and retain bright, fresh colouring. Binding rubbed at extremities with some surface wear and fading to the spine; corners worn.
The spine has mellowed towards olive, with rubbing and wear to the joints, corners and extremities, but the binding remains sound and attractive.
Bibliographical Note
Eighth edition. Complete with all 22 plates; Plate 7, although listed for insertion at p. 47, is bound as the frontispiece.
References
Cf. BHL 138425 (Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library), 1834 eighth edition.
