Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis, Sive Enumeratio Contracta Ordinum Generum Specierumque Plantarum Huc Usque Cognitarum, Juxta Methodi Naturalis Normas Digesta (17 volumes in 21 books)

Parisiis [Paris]: Treuttel et Würtz, 1824. First edition. Leather Bound. Very Good. Octavo [21 cm] 1/4 green leather with bluish-green and black speckled paper over boards. On spines in gilt: "A. De Candolle. Prodromus." Extremities rubbed to varying degrees. "Conservatoire Botanique Ville de Genève" ink stamp on the title pages. Pages lightly foxed, however occasionally the foxing is more pronounced. Periodic neat, brief contemporary markings and manuscript notations in the text of the first half of the volumes (these markings are quite unobtrusive, consist primarily of x's or dashes, and do not distract from the text). Markings most abundant in volumes 1 and 2. Marks all but completely disappear in the second half of the volumes. Stitching visible in the inside margins every now and then. Very infrequent staining to the pages. Pp. 85-92 in volume 3 are hanging on by a thread. Else, bindings very tight and sturdy. With indexes at the rear of each volume, but not containing the index that was issued in 1874. Known as "The Prodromus," this is Candolle's monumental descriptive classification of all heretofore known seed plants. Augustin Pyramus de Candolle prepared the first seven volumes of "Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis," with his son Alphonso completing the work with the help of various authors. Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778-1841) is often described as one the greatest Swiss botanists of the early nineteenth-century. He is known for establishing scientific structural criteria for determining natural relations among plant genera. After Charles Darwin introduced the principles of organic evolution, Candolle's criteria furnished the empirical foundation for a modern evolutionary history of plants. In his writings, he argued that plant anatomy, not physiology, must be the only basis of classification, for which he coined the term taxonomy. In addition to being credited with supplanting Linnaean classification, Candolle is also remembered for pioneering the study of phytogeography, the biogeography of plants.