Sotheby's (London)

(27 cm), 425 (11) pp., illustrations (many in colour). 388 lots. List of prices realised and buyers’ names loosely inserted. Publisher’s red cloth (pictorial onlay detached). - Celebrated sale of a collection of the monuments of botanical book illustration, assembled over a period of some thirty years by Robert de Belder, as a resource for the Arboretum Kalmthout. The books were acquired mostly from Bernard Quaritch, and when in the mid-1980s De Belder was obliged to sell, Quaritch quietly marketed the 4000-volume collection on his behalf. When no buyer could be found, Quaritch bravely took it into stock. The high-value books were introduced into this sale conducted by Sotheby’s; estimated to realise between $4-4.5 million, the 388 lots realised $9,752,267. The Hortus Eystettensis was sold for £605,000 (estimate £100,000-£200,000) to Nico Israel. ¶ Annotated copy, partly priced. Without the illustration mounted on the upper cover of most copies.