Hortus Veitchii - a history of the rise and progress of the nurseries, together with an account of the botanical collectors and hybridists employed by them and a list of the most remarkable introductions

Chelsea, London: James Veitch & Sons, 1906. First edition, illustrated with 50 plates, thick quarto, pp 542, uncut and partly unopened, top edge gilt, possible new endpapers, red cloth rather marked and bleached, the spine professionally strengthened, the dustwrapper is faded, marked, creased and chipped but largely complete and now protected in a removable clear cover. [Loosely inserted is the compliments slip from Messrs Veitch, and a three-page history of The House of Veitch. The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into two separate businesses - based at Chelsea and Exeter - as it became unfeasible to run the whole operation from one location. Famous plant hunters in the Victorian period employed by the Veitch family include the brothers Thomas Lobb and William Lobb from Cornwall and David Bowman. The Veitch's ability to grow exotic plants is noted in William Jackson Hooker's description of Verticordia nitens, and they were able to supply a specimen for its illustration. The firm had, by the outbreak of the First World War, introduced 1281 plants into cultivation, which were either previously unknown or newly-bred cultivars. These included 498 greenhouse plants, 232 orchids, 153 deciduous trees, shrubs and climbing plants, 122 herbaceous plants, 118 exotic ferns, 72 evergreen and climbing plants, 49 conifers, and 37 ornamental bulbous plants. In the years to come, more plants followed. The nurseries were most famous for their orchids, although they also introduced several famous plants from other families, such as Nepenthes rajah and Nepenthes northiana. The pitcher plant species N. veitchii is named in honour of the Veitch dynasty.] . First Edition. Cloth. Good/Fair.