Lot 135: [PALM TREES]. -- BECCARI, Odoardo (1843-1920). -- Asiatic Palms - Lepidocaryeae . [ With ]: Asiatic Palms - Corypheae . Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Press or Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, 1908-1921.

[PALM TREES]. -- BECCARI, Odoardo (1843-1920). -- Asiatic Palms - Lepidocaryeae. [With]: Asiatic Palms - Corypheae. Calcutta: Bengal Secretariat Press or Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, 1908-1921.

3 volumes in 8, large 4υo or 2υo. Numerous phototype plates and lithographs by K.P. Dass, A.N. Banergee and others after Beccari or G. Anichini. (Some spotting and browning.) Contemporary quarter leather (some scuffing).

FIRST EDITION. RARE AT AUCTION: The Lepidocaryeae by the renowned Italian botanical explorer and palm specialist was issued under the auspices of the Royal Botanic garden Calcutta, and was published as volumes XI and XII of their Annals. A posthumous companion work, the Corypheae, was published in 1931 as volume XIII of the Annals.

[With:]

Il Genere Cocos Linn. e le Palme affini. Florence, 1916. 8υo. Original wrappers. -- Webbia. Florence, 1905-1923. 5 volumes in 6, 8υo. Cloth. -- And 14 others. Together 17 works in 29 volumes, various 2υo, 4υo and 8υo sizes, various bindings, condition varies. Complete list available upon request.

Odoardo Beccari, an Italian botanist born in Florence, was among the most prolific of palm taxonomists. He established 500 species and 35 genera, and published multiple major studies of palm flora in countries including Asia, Cuba, Madagascar, and the Pacific. After completing his studies, he spent a few months at Kew Gardens where he became acquainted with the Rajah of Sarawak. This connection proved helpful when he traveled to Sarwak in April 1865. He spent three years exploring and collecting throughout the region, and he would pack his collections to be transported by steamship back to Europe. He returned home in 1868, after a violent attack of fever, and spent time in Florence and Ethiopia before returning to the tropics. In 1872, he traveled to New Guinea, where he explored many of the islands between New Guinea and Indonesia before returning to Italy in 1876. In 1877, he set out to Australia and Sumatra before returning to Italy again in 1877. He names several palms in Thailand and Australia, and his name is venerated in the palm species Hydriastele beccariana, Licuala beccariana, and Pritchardia beccariana. (29)