The Book of Choice Ferns for the Garden, Conservatory, and Stove. Describing and Giving Explicit Cultural Directions for the Best and Most Striking Ferns and Selaginellas in Cultivation

London: L. Upcott Gill. 1892. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. H Hard Cover. Good. Published 1892-1894. Five volumes. Originally published as a three volume set, with this copy bound into five separate volumes in half leather, the bindings consistent with the date of publication (1890s). An important and well-illustrated work on ferns and selaginellas, with 22 plates in full color (one folding), 19 plates in a single color, either green or brown, 50 plates in black and white, seven of which are folding plates. Half reddish-brown leather lettered in gilt with gilt spine banding, boards covered in red and black marbled paper. Vol I: 320p plus plates, bound without preliminaries (such as title page), beginning at page one with a frontis plate. Vol II: 321-666p. plus plates. Vol. III: 288p. plus plates, again bound without preliminaries. Vol. IV: 289- 621p., (1), 2p. ads. plus plates. Vol. V: (8), 457p. 3p. ads, plus plates. Volume III was bound with a separate half-title and title page at the front, as well as an index to the entire work at the back (all included in page count). Covers have some edgewear and rubbing but no chips, a bit of fading to the spines, joints/hinges good with covers firmly attached. No names or other markings, some very light scattered foxing affecting a few text pages, not the plates. One tiny lower margin tear to p. 257/258 in volume I, no other chips or tears. The rear cover and a few pages of volume I have been exposed to moisture, with the marbled paper on the rear cover a bit lifted, the rear pastedown bubbled, and pages 257-320 of volume I a bit rippled, only affecting two black and white plates. The rippling is accompanied by a faint margin dampstain to pages 275-320, with the dampstain a bit darker and affecting a bit more of the final twenty pages, perhaps about 15% of the page area at lower right. A sound and attractive set.