RETZIUS' RARE WORK ON CHINESE PLANTS, Observationes botanicae 1779-1791, with hand-coloured plates.

RETZIUS, ANDERS JAHAN. Observationes botanicae sex fasciculus comprehensae. Qvibus accedunt Ioannis Gerhardi Koenig... descriptiones monandrarum et Epidendrorum in India Orientali factae. Fasc.1-6. Lipsiae (Leipzig), apud Sigfried Lebrecht Crusium, (1779)-1791.

Folio (c. 365X230 mm.). (2, verso blank, main title); (4), 5-38; (4), 5.-28; (4), 5-12, 25-76 (pp. 13-24 omitted in pagination); (4), 5-30; (6), 1-32; (4), 15-67 (pp. 1-14 omitted in pagination), (1) pp. Headtitle with engraved vignette, 6 part-titles with engraved vignette, 1 engraved portrait of Retzius (some foxing to margins), 19 contemporary hand-coloured engraved plates after drawings by Retzius (all, a few textleaves slightly browned)
Near contemporary half calf, worn, some cracks in the joints, gilt spine, upper part partly loose, red title label (bound by A. v. Rossum, Amsterdam). Old signature on first endpaper Reinwardt.

First edition, rare with coloured plates.

The author was a professor of natural history at Lund in Sweden. In the work Observationes botanicae, he described 36 Chinese plants, most of which were new, sent to him by Bladh, Osbeck, Tranchell, Wennerberg and other collectors. Wennerberg seems to have been chaplain on a ship. He also brought plants from Java and Sumatra.

Ref. Nissen: BBI 1622 (erroneous description); Pritzel 7547, Krok 8a, Stafleu: TL-2 9086. See also Wallin, Olle: Anders Jahan Retzius och hans Observationes in Biblis number 44. Probably bought at Björn Löwendahl some minor notes of his to first endpapers.

Provenance: Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt (1773-1854), German botanist, professor of botany in Leyden (see Pritzel 7527-7529).;
Olle Wallin (1934-2021), economist who began his professional career working for the Swedish commercial bank Svenska Handelsbanken, after which he was employed by the construction company Beijers, working under Anders Wall.
His interest in books and nature was inspired by his parents, both avid book collectors and interested in natural history. Wallin began collecting seriously after moving to Stockholm in the 1970's, and frequently visited the many antiquarian book shops as well as attended the auctions. His line of work also required extensive travel, foremost to the European continent and the US, and he usually took the opportunity to combine the business trips with visits to leading antiquarian book sellers and auction houses. Many of the more important and valuable works in his collection were acquired on those occasions.

See text.