Flora Indica by William Roxburgh, printed by William Carey - 1832: Or, Descriptions of Indian Plants

Flora Indica; or, Descriptions of Indian Plants. Serampore, Thacker & Co. in Calcutta; Parbury, Allen & Co. in London, 1832. Signed First edition. 3 volumes, octavo; contemporary sheepskin, smooth spine, smooth edges.

Extremely scarce, First complete edition of the very first Botany book printed by William Carey in Serampore, India!

First complete edition, partly original, of this rare treatise on Indian botany composed by William Roxburgh (1759-1815), the director of the Botanical Garden of Shibpur, near Calcutta, and published after his death by William Carey (1761-1834).

This copy is uniquely signed by the author's son to the Swiss botanist George Samuel Perrottet (1790-1870), the founder of the Botanical Garden of Pondicherry. The indexes of the three volumes are bound at the end of the first and the rare errata butterfly has been well preserved.

The first edition of the work, published in Serampore in 1820-1824, only dealt with the first five botanical classes (up to Pentandria ) , whereas this one describes twenty-two. The additions and notes of Nathaniel Wallich have been removed from this edition published by Carey.