$1,680
Herbarium Albums, Europe, 1865-1866. Two albums compiled by Boston-born Eliza Gill Bradlee Winchester (1830-1896), who married Henry Shroeder Taylor (1824-1886) in 1848. One in dark green pebbled leather, a.e.g., the other in full parchment with gold tooling and inlaid leather embellishments; each page contains pressed botanical specimens tacked minutely to the page with thread; a thinner sheet of paper has been pasted over the verso of each leaf, to hide the knots, some specimens are displayed in separate mountings, sometimes several to a page, bouquets and other artful combinations of plants are present throughout, all nicely preserved; the plants were picked while Eliza toured Europe in 1865 and 1866, culminating in the birth of her daughter Louisa Schroeder Taylor on June 9, 1866, in Paris, which Eliza celebrates by spelling out her daughter's initials in moss, once in each album. Specimens are from England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria, and Italy; leather album: 11 x 8 in.; parchment album: 13 1/4 x 9 3/4 in.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2013-06-01