London, The Linnean Society, Longmans, Green and Co., Williams and Norgate, 1886-1905. Twenty issues in 20, forming three parts. 8vo (22.2 x 14.4 cm). 1812 pp. ([ii], 521; 592; 686, xi); 24 lithographed plates [14; 10; 0], the first being a large, folded, duotone map. Original, uniform printed wrappers.

A massive work - the first concise list of plants of China, Korea, and the Ryukyu archipelago of Japan, with the inclusion of many new species. Published over a long period, and seldom found complete, particularly rare in original wrappers. Written by the American opium trader and botanist Francis Blackwell Forbes (1839-1908), and the British botanist William Botting Hemsley (1843-1924), widely regarded as the principal author. The fine illustrations were made by Matilda Smith (1854-1927). She was "a botanical artist whose work appeared in Curtis's Botanical Magazine for over forty years. She became the first artist to depict New Zealand's flora in depth, the first official artist of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and the second woman to become an associate of the Linnaean Society. The famous British botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker was a second cousin of hers. The work consists of three parts, being the complete Volumes 23, 26, and 36 of the Society's Journal. Each concludes with an index, and each with page and plate numbering starting anew. Includes, in the two last parts. starting on p. 451, an enumeration of additional plants, written by M. Smith, and, in the final part, a complete index, and notes on the history of the whole publication. Stafleu and Cowan regard the Smith contribution as a first supplement, although it was not listed as such on the wrappers of Parts 19 and 20. Provenance: Parts 1-5, 7-9 inscribed and dated by the British botanist (principally phycologist) Antony Gepp (1862-1955); Part 6 with a small stamp of Alfred Newton, Cambridge, Magdalene College on the front wrapper. Newton (1829-1907) was Professor of Comparative Anatomy at Cambridge University from 1866 to 1907, and principally known as an ornithologist. Several spine covers more or less abraded at spine ends, as often; a few wrappers detached, but all are present. A few, marginal spots and some marginal toning, but generally in excellent condition; clean and unmarked. Stafleu and Cowan, 1814. ADDED: A supplementary list of Chinese flowering plants, 1904-1910. Written by Stephen Troyte Dunn, and contained in Volume 39 of the Society's Journal, pp. 411-506. regarded by Stafleu and Cowan as a second supplement.