Richard Mabey in The Flowering of Kew describes the instant success of Hooker's Rhododendrons. "The book, when it was finally completed with thirty plates in 1851, received a rapturous reception. The Athenaeum was unstinting in its praise of Joseph: 'That he should have ascended the Himalayas, discovered a number of plants, and that they should be published in an utmost unequalled style of magnificent illustration, in less than eighteen months -- is one of the marvels in our time.'"