A monograph of the genus Crocus (1886 ) by George Maw

[Gerry Webster]

A monograph of the genus Crocus  (1886 ) by George Maw    

The full text (including plates) of this classic monograph can be found here:

http://biodiversitylibrary.org/item/52656

[David Nicholson]

Gerry, many thanks for this LInk.

[daveyp1970]

I agree super link,i am presently downloading.

[TheOnionMan]

I downloaded it yesterday after seeing Great Moravian's link to a page on Crocus clusii in The Plant List thread. 
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6423.msg181966#msg181966

It takes a while, its nearly 32 MB.

[Janis Ruksans]

I have photocopy of Maw's excellent monograph, made in 80-ies, last century, but it isn't handy to use. It was made in Library of Botanical Institute in S'Peterburgh, where is single copy in all previous USSR of this phantastic book. I was very happy, finding offer of Maw's monograph "reprint" published by General Books. How great was my disappointment when I got it. No pictures and text in many, many places impossible to understand. It is scanned by automatical scanner with plenty of mis-red letters making many words unreadable, with plenty of spelling mistakes.
Now I downloaded this monograph. Simply excellent! Only one problem - I don't know how to improve image, to make text more contrasting for print out with darker lines.
Janis

[ian mcenery]

Janis I found zooming in on the text helps a lot if you are only viewing.

[Gerry Webster]

Janis - I wonder whether this is a consequence of your computer/printer set-up? I have just printed out a sample page using a Mac computer & an old Epson printer. Although the contrast in the text could be better,  it is not bad & is easily readable.

Edit 3.2.11

As regards viewing the web pages, I find that the contrast of the text  depends on the browser; Safari is somewhat better than Firefox.

[Gerry Webster]

At the same site which houses Maw's monograph you can search by name for older literature on crocus (& presumably other plants):

http://biodiversitylibrary.org/Search.aspx?searchTerm

[Arda Takan]

Thanks for the link.

[Otto Fauser]

Janis , I bought your excellent book on Crocuses a few days ago with superb photos - Congratulations !

   Re the photocopy of George Maw's 1886 monograph in the Leningrad Library. For the last 50 or so years I wanted to purchase a copy of it- but it was always out of my reach .Then last year I found an excellent reprint of it by the Archival Reprint Co. , limited to 120 copies .It is 100% true to the 1886 original , text colours etc. I checked it with the original copy of 1886 ,held in the State Library of Victoria , Melbourne . As it came bound in thin cardboard , I had it rebound in dark green half calf and handmarbled paper. -see pics.
    I think you would enjoy this reprint,
           Otto.
     

[Gerry Webster]

Janis , I bought your excellent book on Crocuses a few days ago with superb photos - Congratulations !

   Re the photocopy of George Maw's 1886 monograph in the Leningrad Library. For the last 50 or so years I wanted to purchase a copy of it- but it was always out of my reach .Then last year I found an excellent reprint of it by the Archival Reprint Co. , limited to 120 copies .It is 100% true to the 1886 original , text colours etc. I checked it with the original copy of 1886 ,held in the State Library of Victoria , Melbourne . As it came bound in thin cardboard , I had it rebound in dark green half calf and handmarbled paper. -see pics.
    I think you would enjoy this reprint,
           Otto.

Edited -  today, 21.49

Otto - it's interesting that you checked the colours in  your reprint against the original. If you compare the plate you have pictured with the same plate in the online version the colours are quite different.  C. clusii (= Mathew's C. serotinus subsp clusii) is described by Mathew as  lilac to purplish in colour & Maw describes the colour as "bright purple". While many of the colours have obviously faded in the online version the  plate shown there does depict the flower as purplish rather than bluish as in your photo. So, if the colours are accurate in your photo of the reprint,  something odd is going on.

[Richard Green]

The Biodiversity Library is included within the larger Archive.org website which has much of interest.  Several versions of this book are available here http://www.archive.org/details/monographofgenus00mawg however the Black and White pdf version is very faint and the pictures are useless when printed.

Janis,
A way to get a better copy is to take the colour pdf file to a commercial printer or Copy Shop to print out on a professional colour laser printer.  I have done this on our big colour copier in my office and the quality is excellent, although I do not know if the colours are true.  However there are 550 pages and that is expensive !

[Rafa]

Sorry if I insist about C. clusii, but I think is not important the colour in this case as you can see a huge variation in C. serotinus, but not in C. clusii, which is very homogeneous. I think the herbarium samples collected as C. serotinus subsp. clusii are all in fact C. serotinus, that I consider it as a only species without subsps.  C. clusii has leaves when blooms, and it is  the only Iberian Crocus with reticulated tunics. It blooms a month after C. serotinus (august - september), in the southern part of Iberian Peninsula, like Cadiz (late November)

[Janis Ruksans]

The Biodiversity Library is included within the larger Archive.org website which has much of interest.  Several versions of this book are available here http://www.archive.org/details/monographofgenus00mawg however the Black and White pdf version is very faint and the pictures are useless when printed.

Janis,
A way to get a better copy is to take the colour pdf file to a commercial printer or Copy Shop to print out on a professional colour laser printer.  I have done this on our big colour copier in my office and the quality is excellent, although I do not know if the colours are true.  However there are 550 pages and that is expensive !

Thank you! I did it and now I have nice copy with help of my son-in-law it cost me nothing!
Janis

[Richard Green]

Janis, I am very pleased to help you !