Flora Scotica: or, a Systematic Arrangement, in the Linnaean Method, of the Native Plants of Scotland and the Hebrides - 2 Volumes

Lightfoot, John

Published by J. Dickson, G. Muddie, J. Elder, P. Hill, and others, London & Edinburgh, 1792

About this Item

1792. Second edition in two volumes. xli, 530pp., and an illustrated title-page in addition to the plain title-page (bound in between the dedication page and v is an account of the life of the author by Thomas Pennant, numbered v to xii); [iii], pp. 531 to 1151, 24 page index, and an illustrated title-page in addition to the plain title-page. There are a total of 35 engraved plates, of which 6 are folding, and bound in at the end of volume I is a folding sheet of handwritten notes. John Lightfoot (1735-1788) was an English parson-naturalist, spending much of his free time as a conchologist and botanist. He is best known for his Flora Scotica which pioneered the scientific study of the plants and fungi of Scotland. As well as flowering plants, the "Cryptogamia", including ferns, mosses, algae and fungi, are covered. He also covers the liverworts, recognising only the genera Marchantia, Jungermannia, Targionia, Riccia and Ryssus, but including also "Lichen" as "Algae Terrestres", terrestrial algae. Only nine genera of fungi are recognised in the book: Agaricus, Boletus, Hydnum, Phallus, Helvella, Peziza, Clavaria, Lycoperdon, and Mucor; a tenth fungal genus, Tremella is covered, but included among his algae. The first 66 pages of the work deal with quadrupeds and birds. The two volumes are uniformly bound in later (probably mid to late 20th century) full leather boards with gold titling on a leather label and five raised bands on the spines. The cases of the books are in very good condition with a little scuffing and some damp spotting to the leather on the boards. The contents are tight and clean apart from a few light marks and the occasional brief and neatly written note. There is a little scattered light foxing and offsetting from the plates on some pages and some staining on the bottom of plate IV (facing page 36). In volume 2, page 753 has a tear of about 2" on the fore edge and pages 864 to 870 have old tape stains running down the spine edge that extend to about 1" at the top and bottom of the pages. The staining is heavy on pages 866 and 867 . There is no inscription. PLEASE NOTE: This is a heavy set and extra postage may apply.

Seller Inventory # gVIBotany03

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Flora Scotica: or, a Systematic Arrangement, in the Linnaean Method, of the Native Plants of Scotland and the Hebrides - 2 Volumes
• Publisher: J. Dickson, G. Muddie, J. Elder, P. Hill, and others, London & Edinburgh
• Publication Date: 1792
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardback
• Edition: Second Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Nature
  • Scottish