Serampore printing - Foundational work on Indian Botany: Flora Indica by William Roxburgh and edited by William Carey, 1832

Serampore printing - Foundational work on Indian Botany: Flora Indica by William Roxburgh and edited by William Carey, 1832

"Flora Indica; or, Descriptions of Indian Plants"

-Serampore: printed for W. Thacker & Co Calcutta. and Parbury, Allen & Co. London, 1832.

-First complete edition, Three volumes.

-Each volume 20.5 x 13cm approx

-Green morocco, rebacked. Minor wear to leather of one board. Internally near fine.

-Complete with errata slip: Vol 1: TP, [2], 741; Vol 2: TP, [1], 691; Vol 3: TP, iii-viii, 875

The three volume work was printed at Serampore, an important early centre for Western printing near Calcutta in India, and edited by William Carey. Carey was one of the most important early Christian Missionaries in India, and was instrumental in early Indian printing at the Serampore Mission Press. Volumes 1 and 2 were initially published separately in 1820 and 1824, but the complete 3 volume set, as here, would not appear until 1832.

The work was written by William Roxburgh (1751-1815), and was the earliest systematic attempt to describe and categorise the plants of India. William Roxburgh is often regarded as the father of Indian botany. He was appointed superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Garden in 1793 and spent two decades systematically collecting and cataloguing the plants he saw. Roxburgh sadly died before its publication, but his family commissioned William Carey to edit and publish the work.

The set is quite uncommon in the market, especially in complete and attractive condition.

References: Pritzel 7837; Stafleu & Cowan 9725.