Combretaceae in Southern Africa (de luxe leather edition bound by Peter Carstens)

The de luxe edition (this lot) differs from the subscribers' edition (see the previous lot) in the following particulars:

- the binding is by Peter Carstens: half maroon goatskin and matching hand-made marbled paper boards, gilt-on-maroon title panel on spine, plain maroon endpapers, two extra plain white endpaper leaves front and back, sections handsewn into binding with five raised bands, top edge gilt;

- the text paper is Hahnemuehle acid-free laid paper from Germany;

- the book is presented and preserved in a solander box, also by Peter Carstens: quarter-bound in matching goatskin and marbled paper, title label similar to the book's label but larger, and the interior of the box covered in grey cloth and maroon paper matching the book's endpapers.

This copy - one of only six printed and bound thus - has no owner or other markings and is near-mint, with a very small rub mark at the foot of the spine of the solander box and the upper corners of the box very lightly rubbed.

This is a rare opportunity to acquire a copy of the most sought-after edition of this book, one copy of which in the rare book collection of the National Botanical Gardens, Kirstenbosch.