1873 South Africa - Geographical Distribution - Wrapper

Title: On the Geographical Distribution of Plants in South Africa

Author: MEYER, Ernst
Published: Cape Town: Cape Monthly Magazine, 1873-1874.    Pre-Dates the Book

7 Consecutive Issues - ORIGINAL CONDITION - In Publisher's String-tied Orange Wrappers!

Notes: 8vo. First Edition. This is a set of 5 complete and consecutive monthly issues, which contain the above mentioned account, 63 pages in length, plus a fold-out map. Issues are complete and in original condition, with publisher's orange string-tied printed wrappers, titled to front. Seldom found in such good and original condition.

Translated into English, and with notes by H. Bolus, this is the first edition of this account, complete and in original condition, as first issued in seven parts in the Cape Monthly Magazine. Pre-dates the book, which was published in 1875. Primary phytogeographical classification in South Africa, this substantial scientific study features descriptive results, and extensive data chart, and a map of the Cape of Good Hope from Drège's travels from 1826 to 1834, as well as further work by Ernst Meyer. A scarce early resource.

Johann Franz Drège (1794 - 1881) was influenced by Alexander von Humboldt to chart the 'native stations of plants' or phytogeography of Cape Colony. He had travelled extensively in South Africa from 1826-1834, collected over 200,000 specimens, and named 1,008 genera and 7,092 species. Upon his return to Europe Drège gave the first set of his collections to Prussian botanist, and at the time, professor at Könisgsberg, Ernst H. F. Meyer (1791-1858). Meyer wrote about Drege's collections and further estimated that there could be as many as 12,000 plant species in South Africa.

The Cape Monthly Magazine was first printed in Cape Town in 1857 and continued intermittently throughout the latter nineteenth century, supplying a publication outlet for local knowledge on topics from botany to philology.