SPRING AND WINTER FLOWERING BULBS OF THE CAPE

Author and Title: Jeppe (Barbara) SPRING AND WINTER FLOWERING BULBS OF THE CAPE

Collation: First edition: 143 pages, quarto (4to), lavishly illustrated with 62 full-page colour plates meticulously reproduced from the author's original freehand watercolor paintings. Original publisher's premium full-cloth hardcover boards featuring sharp gilt title stamping along the spine block, in the original illustrated dust jacket. A very good plus copy. The binding is in immaculate condition, showing perfectly flat, square corners and pristine, brilliant cloth surfaces with an upright, strongly fixed spine block. The internal text block is robustly bound, crisp, and immaculate; the heavy-grade art paper and stunning color plates are bright white, clean, and free of marginalia, highlighting, or dog-ears. The original illustrated dust jacket is exceptionally preserved, retaining its bold visual design and deep color tones, displaying only microscopic storage friction at the extremities; now professionally protected within a brand-new archival-grade clear plastic sleeve.

 

Features a beautiful, custom-designed ex-libris bookplate on the page opposite the title page, showcasing a stylized owl emblem and bearing the name Richard Hall, indicating its inclusion in the private collection of the Oxford-educated historian, author, and African journalist Richard Seymour "Dick" Hall (1925–1997).

Notes: Published in 1989 by Oxford University Press, this comprehensive monograph provides an exhaustive taxonomic and visual record of the geophytes and bulbous flora that define the Cape Floristic Region—one of the world's richest biodiversity hotspots. Barbara Jeppe spent years in the field tracking down rare species, bringing them to life through her unparalleled botanical accuracy and delicate watercolor style. Each entry details the plant’s distribution, flowering cycle, and ecological requirements.

Barbara Jeppe (1921–1999) was one of South Africa's most celebrated botanical artists and authors, publishing several reference works and receiving the gold medal from the Botanical Society of South Africa.

The provenance of this copy links it directly to Dick Hall's lifetime of intellectual and journalistic work across the continent, whose extensive professional correspondence and historical papers are permanently archived at institutions like the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library.

Size: 4to (285 x 220 mm)
Imprint: Cape Town, Oxford University Press, 1989