Vasilkovsky, P. E. Wonders of the Plant Kingdom (Chudesa rastitelnogo tsarstva), 1912. In Russian

Васильковский П. Е. Чудеса растительного царства. Популярные очерки из жизни растений. С 161 рисунком О. Винклера, Э. Гейн, И. Зеллени, Г. Кенигсбрун и др.
Санкт-Петербург : Типография А. С. Суворина, 1912.
XIV, 375 с. : 161 ил. Владельческий переплёт эпохи, увеличенный формат. Первое издание.
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Vasilkovsky, P. E. Wonders of the Plant Kingdom (Chudesa rastitelnogo tsarstva). Popular Essays on Plant Life. With 161 illustrations by O. Winkler, E. Gein, I. Zelleni, G. Koenigsbrun, et al.
Saint Petersburg : A. S. Suvorin Typography, 1912.
XIV, 375 pp. : 161 ill. Contemporary owner’s binding, enlarged format. First edition.

This 1912 first edition is a masterpiece of pre-revolutionary science popularization, authored by the distinguished professor and naturalist Pyotr Vasilkovsky (1878–1938). Published by the famous Suvorin Typography, "Wonders of the Plant Kingdom" was written during a golden age of Russian natural history, aiming to transform the public's perception of botany from a dry catalog of names into a vivid study of living, sensing organisms.
Vasilkovsky’s central thesis is the profound vitality of plants. He explores complex biological phenomena—plant "sensitivity," movement, reproductive strategies, and even botanical pathology—through an engaging, almost narrative lens. By detailing how plants respond to stimuli and succumb to illnesses, he famously concludes: "...which means the plant lives, which means it can be healthy and sick, and finally, can even die." This approach prefigured modern ecological thinking by emphasizing the interconnectedness of all life forms.
The volume is exceptionally rich in visual material, containing 161 illustrations by a team of skilled European and Russian artists including O. Winkler and G. Koenigsbrun. These drawings range from precise anatomical diagrams to romanticized depictions of exotic flora, all rendered with the fine line work characteristic of early 20th-century scientific engraving.
As a first edition, this book holds significant value for collectors of natural history and those interested in the history of Russian pedagogical thought. Despite the wear to the spine of this particular copy, the internal text block preserves the high-quality paper and crisp typography of the Suvorin press, making it a quintessential example of the "Silver Age" of Russian scientific publishing.