1847 Rare Book - Flora’s Interpreter by Sarah Josepha Hale, Hand-Colored Plates

An exceptionally attractive 1847 edition of Sarah Josepha Hale’s influential American “language of flowers,” preserved in its richly gilt floral binding and complete with both beautifully hand-coloured botanical plates.

Author: Sarah Josepha Hale.
Title: Flora’s Interpreter; or, The American Book of Flowers and Sentiments.
Publisher: Boston: Benjamin B. Mussey & Co., 1847.
Edition: Fourteenth Edition, Improved.
Language: English.
Pages: x, 262 pages.
Size: 7 x 5 inches.
Binding: Very good original publisher’s dark brown cloth binding, elaborately decorated in gilt, with a large floral design in a vase to both boards, multiple gilt rules, and a richly ornamented gilt spine. All edges gilt. Binding remains firm and particularly attractive, with light rubbing and wear at the extremities and minor age-related surface wear, as shown. Protected in a removable mylar cover. 
Content: Very good content, complete, tight and generally clean, with occasional light foxing, spotting and age toning, principally to the preliminary leaves and in places throughout, as shown. A tear to page 256 has been repaired by a previous owner, with no significant loss of text. An unusually pleasing example internally.
Illustrations: Complete with the two finely hand-coloured botanical plates: a bouquet of roses and a mixed bouquet including tulip, morning glory and gilliflower. Both retain strong, delicate colouring and are especially attractive. Interestingly, the plates bear the Benjamin B. Mussey & Co. engraving imprint dated 1848, while the title page is dated 1847.

Estimate: USD 225–250.

The book: Flora’s Interpreter belongs to the distinctive nineteenth-century tradition of floriography, in which individual flowers were assigned symbolic meanings and used to communicate emotions, virtues and sentiments. Hale combines botanical information with poetry and literary extracts, arranging flowers alongside meanings such as love, remembrance, gratitude, innocence, friendship and hope. The result is at once a botanical handbook, literary anthology and guide to the elaborate Victorian language of flowers.

This handsome fourteenth edition is particularly appealing for its decorative publisher’s binding, all-gilt edges and surviving hand-coloured plates. The book’s combination of natural history, poetry, symbolism and elaborate nineteenth-century book design makes it an attractive example of the American floral gift-book tradition.

The author: Sarah Josepha Hale (1788–1879) was an influential American writer and editor whose long literary career encompassed fiction, poetry, domestic literature and works intended particularly for women and young readers. She is best remembered as the longtime editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, through which she became one of the most influential female voices in nineteenth-century American publishing.

Hale’s interest in literature, education and domestic culture is particularly evident in Flora’s Interpreter, where botanical description is combined with poetry and moral or emotional symbolism. The work enjoyed numerous editions, reflecting the enormous nineteenth-century popularity of the language of flowers.