‘Hummingbirds and Orchids of Mexico’ - Limited Edition Book

Published in 1963, the first actual publication of Rafael Montes de Oca’s great 19th century work, a collector’s item limited to only 1,500 copies printed in English and 1,5000 copies in Spanish, all of which are numbered. Due to a variety of factors, the author was unable to arrange publication during his lifetime. However, the chance appearance of a portfolio of his prints about 75 years after his death, finally made publication possible in 1963, with the editing and foreword done by Carolina Amor de Fournier, and the introduction and descriptions by Rafael Martin del Campo. The book is printed in large format, with 34 pages of text describing the hummingbirds and orchids, followed by 59 beautiful colored plates, each with a male and female species of a hummingbird found in Mexico, pairing the hummingbirds with the orchids they feed on. The plates were reproduced from the original watercolors housed in the Galeria de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City, painted by Rafael Montes de Oca from 1874-1878.