MORISON, Robert, (1620-1683). Plantarum historiae universalis Oxoniensis. Oxford: P. & I. Vaillant, 1715-19. 3 volumes in 2, 2° (400 x 272 mm). Engraved frontispiece portrait bound in at beginning of vol. 3, 8 engraved tables, folding engraved plate with letterpress table, & 301 plates only (of 312), 279 of which printed recto & verso (folding plate chipped at corners and shaved close at head but without loss, very small hole to one plate, two plates lightly browned, two plates loose, small marginal hole to 3R1 in vol. 2 not affecting text, small hole to 2S4 in vol. 3 just touching a couple of letters, dampstain at gutter from 4A to end of vol. 3, gathering 4O loose in vol. 3). Contemporary vellum (slightly warped, worn with spines defective). Second edition complete with Plantarum Umbelliferarum Distrubutio Nova. 'Morison's [taxonomic] system was adopted by Paul Ammann and Paul Hermann, but generally found few followers. This situation perhaps reflected the relative isolation in which Morison had worked in his own lifetime: he seems, for example, never to have become a fellow of either the Royal Society or the Royal College of Physicians. He was frequently criticized for ingratitude to earlier writers, yet both Tournefort and Linnaeus looked back on him with justification as the principal pioneer of taxonomy in botany' (ODNB). Nissen BBI 1413. Sold not subject to return. (2)