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During the time that Europe was in the grip of “orchid fever”, which some orchid lovers might say has never passed, Belgium became a dominant force in the cultivation of orchids. Jean Linden (1817-1898) was a famed "orchid hunter" during this time, organizing many trips to hunt orchids in their native habitats all over the world, and importing back to Belgium over a thousand species. Similar to other great enthusiasts of the day, such as Conrad Loddiges in England, he founded a nursery in Brussels with the help of his son. Together, they published this superb work on orchids "Iconographie des Orchidees" in two parts. The first series of 10 volumes was published from 1885-1894 & the second series of 7 volumes from 1895-1901. Ref: Great Flower Books (1990)
p160. We are currently offering a selection of prints from the first series published from 1885-1894.
As an orchid raiser, it is fair to say that some of these beautiful highly colored lithographs are almost larger than life. The colors are very intense & vivid, with the high quality heavy paper stock still quite white. Many of the plates are in pristine condition, as fresh as the day they were published, over 100 years ago.
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