HARVEY, William Henry (1811-1866). "Algae from Ceylon, Friendly Islands and Australia. Collected during the years 1852, '53, '54 and '55." N.p., 1858.
IMPORTANT BOTANICAL BOOKS FORMERLY IN THE COLLECTION OF THE CLEVELAND BOTANICAL GARDEN
HARVEY, William Henry (1811-1866). "Algae from Ceylon, Friendly Islands and Australia. Collected during the years 1852, '53, '54 and '55." N.p., 1858.

Details
HARVEY, William Henry (1811-1866). "Algae from Ceylon, Friendly Islands and Australia. Collected during the years 1852, '53, '54 and '55." N.p., 1858.

2° (430 x 311 mm). Album of 344 algae specimens mounted on 133 leaves of variously colored papers, preceded by the manuscript title, a letterpress list of Dr. Harvey's duplicate Ceylon Algae; a letterpress list of Dr. Harvey's duplicate Friendly Island Algae; and a letterpress list of Dr. Harvey's duplicate Australian algae. (First few leaves loose, some staining and offsetting, a few specimens with loss.) Contemporary half morocco, spine gilt (upper cover detached, some staining). Provenance: The Warren H. Corning Collection Horticultural Classics (bookplate).

William Harvey an experienced botanist was an authority on European, American and South African algae. He published A Manual of the British Marine Algae (London, 1841), the Flora Capensis (Cape Town and Dublin, 1859-1865) prepared during his time as colonial treasurer at Cap Town, and was well equipped to evaluate the Australian marine flora. During his three-year voyage to India, Australia and the Pacific in 1853-1856 he collected approximately 20,000 specimens, and some were described in “Some Account of the Marine Botany of the Colony of Western Australia” (Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy of Science, 1855). Harvey announced this voyage in an 1853 Subscription Prospectus. He advertises to sell not more than 50 “sets” of duplicate specimens containing between 200-600 specimens. This album contains 344 specimens: 53 of Ceylon on 16 leaves; 40 Friendly Islands on 10 leaves; 251 of Australia on 107 leaves. The habitat of the Australian specimens are as follows: A Fremantle, Western Australia; B King George’s Sound; C Cape Riche, Western Australia; D Port Fairy, Victoria; E Port Phillip Heads, Victoria; F Brighton Beach, Port Phillip; G Geelong, Port Phillip; H Western Port, Victoria; J Georgetown, Van Diemen’s Land; K Port Arthur, Van Diemen’s Land; L Port Jackson, New South Wales; M Newcastle , New South Wales; N Kiama, New South Wales; O Aukland, New Zealand. RARE: we have been able to trace no other example of a Harvey album of this type on the open market. Harvey’s own specimen collections are at the State Library of New South Wales. Although the 1853 prospectus projected an edition, it is unclear if other albums such as the present were compiled. This example is the only example found in World Cat., suggesting that it may be the only such compilation made.

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