This May, Firsts London returns to the Saatchi Gallery with a burst of colour, curiosity, and craftsmanship. The theme? Books in Bloom – a celebration of all things botanical in the world of rare books.
From ancient herbals to avant-garde floral art books, over a hundred rare book dealers from around the globe will gather to showcase the intertwined histories of books and botany. It’s the literary companion to the Chelsea Flower Show, blooming just down the road – but with more vellum and fewer tulips.
Expect everything from medicinal manuscripts to pressed flower albums, poetic tributes to roses, and gorgeously illustrated plant encyclopaedias. Botanical books tell a story far richer than just plants on a page. They chart centuries of exploration, science, superstition, art – and obsession.
Once used to treat fevers and fend off spirits, early plant drawings became tools of classification, trade, and desire. By the Victorian age, they were full-blown objects of beauty, their detailed engravings and watercolours capturing the global explosion of flora newly ‘discovered’ and imported.
Justin Croft Antiquarian has brought an exquisite edition of Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal, illustrated by Joubert-Magran.
Literature, too, is full of gardens and green things. From Shakespeare’s enchanted woods to The Secret Garden, writers have long used plants as metaphors for mystery, transformation, and escape. And then there are the curiosities: seaweed albums, floral bindings, sprigs of lavender tucked between the pages. Ephemera that survived centuries.
This year’s fair partners with Chelsea Physic Garden, whose historic library of botanical and taxonomic treasures is featured in the fair’s artwork.
Among the highlights:
- Peter Harrington Rare Books: Admiral Nelson’s personal collection – including weather logs, letters, and scribbled notes.
- HS Rare Books and Maps: A visual feast with Jacobus Publicius’s Ars oratoria (1482), showcasing the first printed visual alphabet and the first printed chess board, as well as a stunning first edition of Gessner’s Encyclopaedia.
- Justin Croft Antiquarian: Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal, illustrated with sultry flair by Joubert-Magran.
- Ashton Rare Books: A pristine set of the first edition of Nabokov’s Lolita.
First printed chess board from Jacobus Publicius’s Ars Oratoria (1482) and a sample from Gessner’s Encyclopaedia depicting marine monsters.
- Foster Books: A jewel-like illuminated history of Hampton Court Palace, bound in maroon morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe.
- Shapero Rare Books: A veritable garden in a chest – including the 1613 Hortus Eystettensis, Lydia Byam’s long-lost floral paintings from Antigua, and the Duke of Marlborough’s Chinese watercolour album.
- delicate Chinese watercolours of native blooms.
- KEEL Row Bookshop: A pictorial suffragette’s protest napkin (yes, really), a powerful paper relic from a different kind of flower power, by Sarah “Auntie” Burgess. Burgess was a printer and manufacturer of paper goods, including souvenir napkins and other novelty items. She is known for creating souvenir napkins for major events, including the Votes for Women rally on 23 July, 1910.
From the left, a copper engraving print from the 1613 Hortus Eystettensis by Basilius Besler;
an illustration from the Duke of Marlborough’s Chinese watercolour album;
Sarah “Auntie” Burgess’s pictorial suffragette souvenir napkin from 1910.
And that’s just scratching the surface.
Whether you’re a seasoned collector or just curious, Firsts London is a rare chance to get up close with the beautiful, the strange, and the storied. If you’re in town, make time to wander the Saatchi Gallery – and let yourself get lost among the blooms.
Author: Julia Pasarón
FIRSTS: London Rare Books Fair
Saatchi Gallery
Duke of York’s Square, King’s Road
London SW3 4RY
More information and tickets HERE.
Leading image: PY Rare Books have brought a stunning 1872 first edition on Russian textile ornaments by influencial art critic, Vladimir Stasov.
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