Lot 164: [ROUPELL, Arabella Elizabeth (1817-1914)].Specimens of the Flora of South Africa By A Lady, explanatory text by William Henry Harvey. London: printed by W. Nicol, 1849 [but March 1850].

[ROUPELL, Arabella Elizabeth (1817-1914)]. Specimens of the Flora of South Africa By A Lady, explanatory text by William Henry Harvey. London: printed by W. Nicol, 1849 [but March 1850]. Broadsheet (572 x 452 mm). Printed on thin card and mounted on guards throughout, 1p. list of subscribers (103 names for 111 copies), hand-colored lithographic title, 8 numbered lithographic plates and one lithographic tail-piece, all by P. Gauci after Roupell. (A few small marginal repairs, a few pale stains, some light chipping.) Original brown morocco, covers with decorative border tooled in gilt and blind, the upper cover with central gilt vignette with the title "Cape Flowers By A Lady" surrounded by flowers and foliage, edges gilt (rebacked with part of old spine laid down, a few repairs to corners and edges, rubbed). A RARE LARGE-SCALE WORK CELEBRATING THE AMAZING DIVERSITY OF THE FLORA OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. Arabella Roupell (née Piggott) was the wife of Thomas Boone Roupell of the East India Company. She based her drawings on specimens collected at the Cape of Good Hope in 1843 and 1844. Dr. Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854) reviewed them and sent them to his colleague, Sir William Hooker (1785-1865), in London for further critique. Wallich and Hooker suggested that Roupell publish them, and recommended P. Gauci as the lithographer. Professor William Henry Harvey (1811-1866) provided the descriptive text. The final image in the work, Roupellia grata, was named in honor of various members of the Roupell family (including Aribella Roupell and her husband, his grandfather Charles Roupell of Charleston, and Dr. Roupell of London) by Wallich and Hooker. M. Arnold South African Botanical Art (Vlaeberg, 2001), p.39; BM(NH) IV, p.1742; Great Flower Books (1990) p.134; Mendelssohn II, p.254; Nissen BBI 1687; Stafleu-Cowan TL2 9684.