1870 Rhind BOTANICAL History Vegetable Kingdom Plants Botany Illustrated Herbal

1870 Rhind BOTANICAL History Vegetable Kingdom Plants Botany Illustrated Herbal

This 1870 supplemented edition of A History of the Vegetable Kingdom by William Rhind, published in London, Glasgow, and Edinburgh by Blackie & Son, presents a reference that outlines the role of plants across medicine, food, clothing, industry, and decoration. Rhind’s treatment of botanical science relies on both classical sources and observations from the industrial age. Rather than arranging plant life strictly by taxonomy, he emphasizes function—grouping species by practical application.

A full chapter titled “Medicinal Plants – Peruvian Bark, Quassia, Gentian, Centaury, etc.” highlights Cinchona (the source of quinine), as well as other plants traditionally employed in digestive treatments and fever remedies. Rhind quotes: “The medicinal efficacy of Peruvian bark would appear to have been accidental… its use in intermittent fevers was known to the American Indians.” The narrative engages figures such as Aristotle, Dioscorides, Theophrastus, and Pliny, aligning centuries of ethnobotanical knowledge with 19th-century medical science.

The volume contains wood-engraved and steel-engraved illustrations, many of which document botanical characteristics useful for identification. The work includes visual and textual commentary relevant to both antiquity and Victorian practice.

Condition:
Bound in original 19th-century half leather with raised bands, gilt spine label, and green textured boards. Marbled edges remain intact. The textblock is secure. Pages show light handling, with several leaves repaired. All plates are present, including 46 steel engravings and numerous woodcuts.

Why Collect This?

• Features medicinal plant commentary contextualized with ancient texts

• Includes hundreds of botanical illustrations

• Issued by Blackie & Son, noted for illustrated Victorian publications

• Bound in original 19th-century materials with engraved plates intact

• Especially suitable for collectors in medical botany, ethnobotany, or Victorian science

Item number: #17165

Price: $550

RHIND, William

A history of the vegetable kingdom: embracing the physiology, classification, and culture of plants, with their uses to man and the lower animals, and their application in the arts, manufactures, and domestic economy.

London: Blackie and Son…, 1870.

Details:

• Collation: Complete with all pages
  • xvi, 744
  • 46 steel-engraved plates
  • Hundreds of woodcut engravings throughout
• Provenance: Bookplate – Thomas Spotswood Ash.
  • Motto – NON NOBIS SED OMNIBUS
• Language: English
• Binding: Leather; tight and secure
• Size: ~10in X 7.25in (25.5cm x 18cm)

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