James Bateman had a passion for horticulture and considerable means, which enabled him to amass a renowned collection of orchids and to seek out unusual specimens throughout Great Britain. At his house in Staffordshire, he built extensive greenhouses, where he cultivated his collection of orchids and produced his first and most splendid work, “The Orchidacaea of Mexico and Guatemala.” In the next thirty years, he contributed generously to books by other publishers. Bateman also had access to private collections, including the famous greenhouses owned by the Duke of Devonshire. Within the field of natural history, Bateman’s “Orchidacaea” is among the finest lithographic illustration ever published, as well as the most rare, for only 125 copies were printed.
