Gardening

Royal Exotic Nursery, 544, King's Road, Chelsea: James Veitch & Sons 1887-1894. Ten parts (seperately paginated) issued in two bound volumes, very well illustrated with 72 plates (including 23 double sided, and 3 folding), 13 coloured maps (including 10 folding), and many other text engravings, pp 160, 82, 104, 134, 108, 194, 80, 137, 142, 108 + glossary, a little slight foxing and spotting here and there, a small contemporary magazine article on Masdevallia has been neatly bound in on a stub, several more in the Cyprepedium section, a contemporary inscription on the front endpaper, otherwise very clean internally, decorated brown cloth showing only very slight signs of use, a tiny snag to the spine of the first volume near the lower joint, otherwise very good. [One of the most luxurious of all practical orchid books; possibly the best set I have ever had in stock.]. First Edition. Cloth. Very Good.

Chelsea, London: James Veitch & Sons, 1906. First edition, illustrated with 50 plates, thick quarto, pp 542, uncut and partly unopened, top edge gilt, possible new endpapers, red cloth rather marked and bleached, the spine professionally strengthened, the dustwrapper is faded, marked, creased and chipped but largely complete and now protected in a removable clear cover. [Loosely inserted is the compliments slip from Messrs Veitch, and a three-page history of The House of Veitch. The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into two separate businesses - based at Chelsea and Exeter - as it became unfeasible to run the whole operation from one location. Famous plant hunters in the Victorian period employed by the Veitch family include the brothers Thomas Lobb and William Lobb from Cornwall and David… Read More

Sao Paulo: S.A. Industrias, 1949. Well illustrated with 300 plates (including many coloured), large thick quarto, pp 302, upper corners lightly bumped throughout, the front joint and inner hinge are badly cracked and will split completely with a lot of use, half leather and pictorial cloth, slightly worn, upper joint rubbed and a little cracked. [A heavy book - extra postage will be required.]. First Edition. Half-Leather. Fair.

London: George Sawbridge, 1668. 1668. Illustrated with six plates plus woodcut illustrations within the text, small octavo, pp (ii), 102, some browning and thumbing throughout with general signs of use, the occasional very early small manuscript note, the last two pages with slight wear to the margins and minor neat paper repairs, early manuscript figures and small scribbles on the blank surface of the final page. Lacking a large corner of pages 65/66, and replaced with a paper repair; the text has been copied in manuscript, and the missing portion of the maze parterre has been very carefully copied and is barely noticeable apart from the different paper colour (see images). Neatly bound in a fairly modern full calf, small raised bands and red morocco label. {When first published in 1617/1618 this was the first gardening book intended for the conditions of the North of England, and the Country Housewife's Garden the first English gardening book for women.}. Full-Leather. Good.

Pall-Mall, York Street, Strand and Fenchurch Stree: J. Dodsley; S. Baker, G.Leigh et al, 1768. Small octavo, pp (2), 123, a little age-toned but otherwise extremely clean and sound internally, bound in a recent qurter calf and marbled boards with red leather lettering piece on the spine. Armorial bookplate of The Earl of Harrowby. The upper board is a little bowed, but this detracts only a little from a very bright copy indeed. RARE. [Blanche Henrey 1437. De Combles wrote the original anonymously in 1745, when it was the first work on the subject in France. The English edition is also anonymous and Henrey speculates that of the various booksellers mentioned on the title page, "J. Gordon, seedsman, Fenchurch Street" may well have suggested publication if indeed he wasn't the translator.]. First English edition. Quarter calf and boards. Very Good.

The Bible on Ludgate Hill, neere Fleet Bridge [Lon: E. Brewster & George Sawbridge, 1656. "Now newly the sixth time revised, corrected and amended, together with many new additions and cheap experiments". Small square octavo, pp (ii), 126, (iv), with several small woodcuts of agricultural tools, a little age-toned throughout, but overall extremely clean and sound, bound in a modern quarter cloth and boards, a paper title label on the spine, very clean and smart. A very pleasing copy. [Markham (1568-1637) wrote extensively in the fields of literature, horsemanship, and country pursuits, and his works underwent almost two hundred editions by the end of the seventeenth century. The present work offers a guide to preparing land for farming, covering the weeding, ploughing and tilling of various soil types.]. Quarter cloth. Very Good.

Leyden & Amsterdam: Samuel Luchtmans & Meynard Uytwerf, 1750. Illustrated with 13 finely engraved plates, (one with a tear, and one with tears along the folds), one full page plan within the text, small quarto, pp xxiv, (6), 412, (32), contents a little age-toned but otherwise remarkably clean, pages unpressed, lacking the half-title, contemporary full calf, rather worn, particularly at the corners, joints cracked, lacking the lower panel of the spine and a small piece at the head, original marbled endpapers. [ LACKING one plate]. { "French edition of the first treatise in Dutch to provide a theoretical basis for garden design. It also addressed various practical issues, including the cultivation of plants, propagation and stove and hothouse technology, the latter presumably embodying the knowledge held within the family - the author's father having grown the first pineapple at Meerburg in 1658" - Patrick Taylor} . Full-Leather. Good.

New York: Hastings House, 1974. Illustrated, octavo, pp 334, a tiny mark on the fore-edge otherwise as new internally, red cloth showing the slightest signs of use, the dustwrapper is lightly price-clipped and slightly rubbed. Overall a remarkably good copy of a surprisingly rare book.. First Edition. Cloth. Very Good/Very Slightly rubbed.

Fleet Street and Bride Court, London: William Smith and J.M. Knott [1837 - 1840]. Three volumes, small quarto, pp viii, 96, (6); iv, 188; iv, 188, three vignette title pages, an extra hand-coloured title page in the first volume, with 137 fine hand coloured plates, all edges gilt, bound in a Victorian half morocco and cloth, the spines highly decorated in gilt, a little rubbed at the joints and corners, the cloth sides slightly marked and very slightly bubbled in a few small places. In Volume 3 title page and the first two plates and text are a little stained at the upper corner, the subsequent three plates and text pages very faintly marked; otherwise this is a remarkably clean and bright set internally - the plates all have their protective tissues which very occasionally have a faint spot of foxing, but nothing has transfered to the surface of the plate. With the book label of Carl Wendell Carlsmith [1904 - 1932] on each of the first blank pages in each volume. RARE, AND EXCEPTIONALLY DIFFICULT… Read More

London: Thomas Harper, 1633. Thick square octavo, pp (6), 702, (66), printed in black letter. The title page is mounted and heavily restored from a much earlier time; it is age-toned and there is much staining of the surface, possibly from the glue used to repair ? The first few pages are fragile at the leading edge and lacking a few small pieces; the remaining pages are age-toned and occasionally slightly marked or stained, certainly used but overall quite sound with no tears or loss. Later calf with simple gilt decorated line, with some cracking and wear, fairly recently re-backed with a new calf spine, blind-stamped. Front and rear hinges cracked, but no weakness. The front endpaper has a tiny neat inscription dated 1917, and also the heraldic bookplate of Lady Violet Beaumont. [Second edition of this charming guide to herbal remedies with the plants "set down in order of the Alphabet, so that thou mayest without any difficulties finde them by the titles of the pages" ("To the… Read More

Tokyo: Z.P. Maruya & Co., 1897. First edition. Octavo, frontispiece of script, pp 2, (viii), 8, 4, 322, 62, (3), edges red, the hinge at the title page cracking but not weak, very clean internally, original quarter cloth and marbled boards, rubbed but sound, the spine slightly marked and faded. RARE, . First Edition. Half cloth and boards. Good.

Cambridge at the University Press, 1909. Illustrated with many photographic plates, large octavo, pp xii, 431, slightly age-toned and with signs of use internally, lacking the front endpaper, front hinge a little weak, with the very large folding map ion the rear pocket, but this is very worn and lacking two sections, LACKING the tables of vocabularies, original blue cloth, a little worn, the spine head slightly frayed. VERY SCARCE. [ The author educated at Eton, where he was proficient in Oriental languages. Davies then joined the Army, and was sent to British-controlled Burma in 1887 and to Siam in 1892. In 1893 he was attached to a survey unit which surveyed the passes between Burma and China which located the Crouching Tiger Pass, the Heavenly Horse Pass and the Han Dragon Pass. On completion of the team's objectives Davies remained in China to explore the Yunnan area. On his return to England he was asked to survey a potential railway route from India to the Yangtze river via Yunnan and in… Read More

London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1841. First edition. Large octavo, illustrated with seven engraved plates and and a engraved portrait frontispiece, pp xii, 379, rather used and thumbed internally and becoming rather weak, the front and rear hinges very cracked and loose, the title page detached, original cloth rather worn and blotched. The Syon Gardens copy, with their stamps throughout. RARE. [The extensive sketch of his life was written by his daughter. Knight was the brother of Payne Knight, and the second President of the Royal Horticultural Society. Attention was first called to his work in 1795 by the publication of the results of his research into the propagation of fruit trees and the diseases prevalent among them. He used 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) of land he inherited to conduct breeding of plants including strawberries, cabbages and peas and built an extensive greenhouse. Knight performed basic physiological experiments on plants, which work had been performed before only… Read More

How Does Your Garden Grow? by Beverley Nichols, Compton Mackenzie, Marion Cran, V. Sackville-West. Decorations by Nora S. Unwin. 1935 Doubleday, first U.S. edition. Includes essays on gardening by these four British writers. Beverly Nichols was an accomplished novelist and playright, Compton Mackenzie was a proud Scottish activist and writer, Marion Cran was the first woman gardening broadcaster, and Vita Sackville-West was an unconventional, accomplished novelist, essayist, gardener, and lover and companion to Virginia Woolf, Violet Trefiss, and others.
Condition: Jacket in good condition, tear on front cover on head and tail of spine, tear on back cover, book in good condition, wear and discoloring to boards, bookstore sticker on front pastedown, stamp on end paper, see photos.
"The true gardener is always wanting to rearrange and to improve his schemes."

Very good copy of Volume XXXII (32) of Edwards's Botanical Register, 1846
Complete with all 69 (3 folding) hand-coloured botanical plates (No. 1-69).
The majority by talented woman botanical artist Miss Sarah Drake.
Includes 21 exotic species of showy orchids (Cattleya, Anguloa, Cypripedium, Dendrobium, Rhyncholaelia, Trichopilia, Cycnoches, Acanthephippium, etc.), as well as peony, gardenia, fire lily, bellflower, passionfruit, desert rose, indigo, balsam, snake gourd, speedwell, primrose, etc.
The Botanical Register was launched by Sydenham Edwards in 1815 following his departure as main illustrator to William Curtis's Botanical Magazine. Edwards edited the magazine and drew most of the plates in 14 volumes until his death in 1828. John Lindley then took over as editor on a further 19 volumes under the title Edwards's Botanical Register from 1829 to 1847. By 1832, Miss Drake had become the main illustrator of the magazine, and she would go on to draw over 1,000 plates.
Miss Drake or Sarah Anne Drake… Read More