The North American Sylva - photo 1
The North American Sylva - photo 2
The North American Sylva - photo 3
The North American Sylva - photo 4
The North American Sylva - photo 5

The North American Sylva

Lot 185
26.05.2022 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 107 100
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 752828
Lot 185 | The North American Sylva
Estimate value
$ 20 000 – 30 000
The North American SylvaNew Harmony, 1841-1842MICHAUX, François André (1770-1855). The North American Sylva; or, A Description of the Forest Trees of the United States, Canada, and Nova Scotia. Philadelphia: J. Dobson. Printed in New Harmony, Indiana by William Amphlet, [1841]-1842.Extremely rare first American-printed edition of The North American Sylva, issued by the New Harmony utopian society using the original Paris plates. The Scottish merchant and philanthropist William Maclure joined the Owenite colony at New Harmony in the 1820s, bringing with him a band of scientists and intellectuals from Philadelphia, including the ichthyologist C.A. Lesueur and the entomologist and conchologist Thomas Say. "Maclure supported their work in New Harmony and bought a small hand-press on which, between 1827 and 1843, were printed the monographic publications of Say and Lesueur as well as some of his own works and two by David Dale Owen, one of the sons of Robert Owen, who became a celebrated geologist. The most notable work to come off Maclure's press was the first American edition of François André Michaux's North American Sylva. Maclure had bought the remaining copies of the Paris edition himself, together with the original copper plates, while he was living in France in 1824" (MacPhail & Sutton). The title-pages indicate that the Harmonists intended to add the three supplemental volumes by Thomas Nuttall, "but these were not in fact printed with this edition. It was not until 1842-1849 that the three volumes by Nuttall were published in Philadelphia, each by a different publisher. It seems odd for Amphlet to have included a mention ... but he clearly thought that he would have Nuttall's manuscript in hand before he completed the New Harmony edition" (ibid.).This edition is so rare that it was never seen by Joseph Sabin, and only five institutional copies were located by MacPhail & Sutton, in addition to two copies in private hands (of which this may be one). However, Sabin quotes the bibliographer Obadiah Rich, who wrote close to the time of publication, that "In 1840, a new edition of the English translation was printed at New Harmony, on very bad paper, and with a worn out type, and, contrary to the intentions of Mr. Maclure, put at so high a price, that few copies were sold. Latterly, all the remaining copies were destroyed by a fire on the premises where they were stored.” Evidently, Rich had not seen a copy either as the paper, type, and printing are all of high quality. Bennett, p. 76; MacPhail & Sutton, "A Bibliography of the Natural History Works Printed at New Harmony, Indiana, 1827-1843," in PBSA 89:3 (September 1995), pp. 299-315, no. 17. See also MacPhail "Natural History in Utopia: The works of Thomas Say and François-André Michaux printed at New Harmony, Indiana," in Archives of Natural History, 1983:1, pp.15-33.Three volumes, octavo (263 x 180mm). Publisher's printed slip tipped to front flyleaf of vol. 1 (not mentioned in bibliography). (Vol. 2 without contents leaf.) 156 hand-colored stipple-engraved plates of leaves, flowers, and fruits of trees, from drawings by P. Bessa (92), P.J. Redouté (32), H.J. Redouté (27), A. Rich (3), A. Redouté (1), and one unsigned (some pale even toning to plates in vol. 3 and towards end of vol. 2). Original quarter grosgrain cloth and plain boards, paper printed spine labels (rubbed, labels rubbed and chipped including loss; vol. 2 lower cover nearly detached, vol 3 spine panel detached and laid in, several leaves/plates sprung from text block). Housed in cloth chemises and together in custom clamshell box. Provenance: James Thomas Caldcleugh (ownership signature dated Philadelphia, 14 September 1841 in vol. 1 and 1842 in vol. 2).
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