Gardening
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BRAUTIGAN, Richard. Please Plant This Book.San Francisco / Santa Barbara : 1968
First edition, sole impression, a scarce complete set of these eight poems by Richard Brautigan printed on the back of coloured seed packets.
Copies were issued for free with the injunction that they be planted: "The time is right to mix sentences, sentences with dirt and the sun with punctuation and the rain with verbs, and for worms to pass... Learn More£1,100.00Stock Code: 148029
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REDOUTÉ, Pierre-Joseph. Les Roses.Paris : 1835
Third edition, the most complete, of the most famous of all rose books, published under the direction of L. J. Pirolle, the collector of roses who had supplied Redoute with many of the specimens.
This edition was expanded with 23 new plates, the portraits of Redoute and Thory, and a biographical note on Thory which had not appeared in the first... Learn More£18,750.00Stock Code: 147433
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COTTON, Charles (trans.) The Planters Manual:London : 1675
First edition of Charles Cotton's translation of Robert Triquel's Instructions pour les Arbres Fruictiers, first published in Paris in 1653. The manual guides the gardener to growing orchard and garden fruit, Cotton's preface beseeching the English gentleman to furnish his gardens with such fruit trees, as is the French fashion.
The poet and... Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 145809
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JACKSON, Mary Ann. The Pictorial Flora;London : 1840
First edition of this remarkable collection of botanical drawings, gathered over five annual journeys across England and Wales, and comprising a catalogue of over 1,500 plant species. Jackson intended the present work "to serve as a handy and affordable alternative to more expensive and elaborate botanical plate books then available" (Carter). This... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 140873
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GERARDE, John. The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes.London : 1636
Second edition of Johnson's enlarged version of the herbalist's major work, first published in 1597, the first enlarged edition in 1633.
Thomas Johnson (c.1595-1644), the London apothecary who was already a botanical writer of some note by 1633, sensibly marked his additions and major alterations to the first edition, making it possible to distinguish... Learn More£4,750.00Stock Code: 147449
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FLOWERS. The Lover's Language of Flowers;Wakefield : [1873]
An attractive collection of poetry and a dictionary of the emotions flowers express, by the anonymous "Authoress". From this work we learn that one should offer their love vervain to communicate their "irresistible influence", while offering hemlock means "You will cause my death".
The rise of floriography in England has been attributed to the... Learn More£275.00Stock Code: 146013
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FERREE, Barr. American Estates and Gardens.New York : 1904
First edition. A comprehensive study in photographs of the great estates toward the end of the Gilded Age. Barr Ferree was the leading architectural historian of his era. Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 127662
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JEKYLL, Gertrude. Lilies for English Gardens.London : 1901
First edition, first impression. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 95231
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JEKYLL, Gertrude. Annuals & Biennials.London : 1916
First edition, first impression. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 95233
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REPTON, Humphry. Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening.London : [1795]
First edition of Repton's first book and the work in which he laid out "his claim to the position of a national authority" on landscape gardening (Rogger, p. 12). Handsomely printed by the finest London printer of the age, William Bulmer, the delightful aquatints employ clever overslips to show the transformation of the landscape under Repton's guiding... Learn More£19,500.00Stock Code: 138558
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HAMMOND, Richard. Carnations Cultivated by Richard Hammond of Coddenham in the County of Suffolk.[Ipswich : 1733
A remarkable manuscript volume proudly detailing 84 varieties of carefully curated carnations accompanied by a number of reflective religious discourses. The unique work, which has been provided with a locally printed title page, contains 18 meticulously if naively hand-drawn and captioned illustrations depicting carnations, a campanula pyramidalis,... Learn More£17,500.00Stock Code: 138840
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EVELYN, John. Sylva,London : 1664
First edition of Evelyn's most celebrated book and famously the first book to be printed by order of the Royal Society, which had been founded four years previously. During the 1640s and 1650s production of glass and iron increased rapidly and the wood used to fire the furnaces and factories was not being replaced by fresh planting. This led to a serious... Learn More£3,750.00Stock Code: 87758
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WILSON, Robert Francis. Horticultural Colour Chart.London : 1938-42
Well preserved set of the first edition of this cleverly conceived project to standardise colour definitions so that "there will be but one colour name recognised for each hue in the textile and all colour-using industries as well as by artist's colourmen". A frequently called upon working tool, it is unusual for sets to survive in such excellent state.
The... Learn More£600.00Stock Code: 141298
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JARVIS, C. S. Innocent Pursuits.London : 1953
First edition, first impression, of the author's wide-ranging reminiscences, featuring essays on pets, sport and history in Egypt, ornithology, trout fishing, dogs, reptiles, and trees. Learn More£50.00Stock Code: 140696
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SØRENSEN, Carl Theodor. The Origin of Garden Art.Copenhagen : 1963
First edition thus, first printing, number 487 of 750 copies only, this English-Danish bilingual edition was published in honour of the author's 70th birthday. Carl Theodor Sørensen (1893-1979) was a Danish landscape architect, considered to be one of the greatest of the 20th century, and a leading figure in the first generation of Modernists in landscape... Learn More£65.00Stock Code: 141210
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AUSTEN, Ralph. Observations upon some part of Sr Francis Bacon's Naturall History as it concernes, Fruit-trees, Fruits, and Flowers:Oxford : 1658
First edition. Ralph Austen (c. 1612-1676) is a fascinating figure, a combination of self-taught gardener and religious radical, whose "approach to horticulture was innovative, experimental, and sceptical of the authority of theorists" (ODNB). Here he challenges Sir Francis Bacon over his theory of the descent of sap, opposing the findings of his friend... Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 129008
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THOMPSON, Reginald Campbell. A Dictionary of Assyrian Botany.London : 1949
First and only edition. Well-represented institutionally, and occasionally encountered on the market, but rarely without library paraphernalia, and in such sound condition. Thompson was one of the leading Assyriologists of his era, his skill in the transcription of cuneiform being such that some of "those in Thompson's handscript remain indispensable"... Learn More£575.00Stock Code: 140452
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SEED CATALOGUE - BRIDGEMAN, Alfred. Descriptive Catalogue of Kitchen Garden,New York : 1868
Annual vegetable seed catalogue Alfred Bridgeman, "grower, importer and dealer in all standard vegetable, grass, herb, and flower seeds". Learn More£200.00Stock Code: 115415
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CHASE, C. Thurston. The Prairie Fruit Culturist:Chicago : 1859
A rare, thoroughly regional Midwestern guide to tree and bush fruits, including chapters on grapes, acknowledging a debt to Nicholas Longworth, and three pages on wine production, noting "In a country where wine is plenty and cheap, drunkenness is seldom known. A vinland is marked by sobriety and cheerfulness". Chase (1819-1870) went on to become Florida's... Learn More£1,100.00Stock Code: 115408
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SEED CATALOGUE - DOWN, Chester B. Descriptive Catalogue of Choice Green House and Hot House Plants.Strafford, VT : 1881
Chester B. Down's 1881 catalogue of household plants' seeds and bulbs. Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 115412
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BROWN, Waldo F. Gardener's Pocket Manual.Springfield, OH : [1878]
First and only edition of this manual of this manual of vegetable culture by the author of the popular The Farm and Stock Encyclopaedia, in which he championed crop rotation and soil regeneration. Learn More£725.00Stock Code: 115414
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DUHAMEL DU MONCEAU, Henri-Louis. Tratado del Cultivo de Las Tierras,Madrid : 1751
First edition in Spanish of the first part of Duhamel du Monceau's treatise on agriculture, which had been published in France in 1750 as Traité de la Culture des Terres; five other parts followed, the last one published in 1760. Quesnay's entry on agriculture, which appeared in the first volume of the Encyclopédie in 1751, was influenced by the work... Learn More£675.00Stock Code: 129087
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BLITH, Walter. The English Improover, or a new Survey of Husbandry.London : 1649
One of two 1649 editions, of unestablished priority. Walter Blith (1605-1654) has been called by Robert Trow-Smith "the greatest of the mid-seventeenth century writers" in the field of agriculture (English Husbandry, 1951). In this work, Blith advocates draining and making water meadows, inclosure, the use of manures, and plantations. "In spite of the... Learn More£2,000.00Stock Code: 129024
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AUSTEN, Ralph. A Treatise of Fruit-Trees,Oxford : 1665
Third edition, first published in 1653. The third edition includes the text of Austen's observations on Francis Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum, which he had published in 1658. The life of the horticulturist Ralph Austen (1612-1676) was an odd mix of Anabaptist radicalism and gardening. "Austen contributed to three areas which, in the millenarian atmosphere... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 129007
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MARKHAM, Gervase. Markhams Farwell to Husbandry.London : 1625
Second edition, expanded and corrected, first published in 1620. Gervase 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,... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 129219
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IGGULDEN, William. The Tomato, with Cultural Directions For Maintaining a Continuous Supply of Fruit.London : 1881
Scarce first edition of this pamphlet authored by the English tomato breeder William Iggulden, with an introduction and twelve chapters on a range of topics including early and late crops, successional crops, frame versus open air cultures, hints for amateurs, and tomatoes for exhibition. The eleventh chapter comprises a description of twenty-five varieties,... Learn More£85.00Stock Code: 136884
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SANDER, Henry Frederick Conrad. Reichenbachia, Orchids illustrated and described.London & St Albans : 1888-94 [1895]
Imperial edition, copy 51 of 100 copies signed by Sander. Published during the heyday of the late Victorian orchid mania, Sander was the foremost authority on the Orchidaceae, as well as the largest grower, maintaining nurseries in England, Belgium, and the United States. He had agents gathering plants worldwide, often dangerous work, and he reports... Learn More£37,500.00Stock Code: 122509
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THAXTER, Celia. An Island Garden.Boston and New York : 1895
Second edition, with an autograph letter signed from the author and dated 6 August 1880 reading: "Gentlemen: Will you kindly send me a copy of sayings of Epictetus, the small, vest-pocket edition, with bill for same & oblige, yours truly, C. Thaxter, Appledore, Isles of Shrals sic Off Portsmouth, N. H." tipped-in to the front free endpaper, and a manuscript... Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 135708
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FLOWERS. Souvenir de Flore ou le Langage des Fleurs.Paris : [c.1820]
First edition of this attractive flower book, with 12 illustrations of bouquets, each with an imagined dialogue between the flowers. Incongruously, the latter section of the book is an account of the people and government of Turkey. No doubt produced as a ready-bound cheap gift book, the work is now a great rarity, with WorldCat listing only a single... Learn More£950.00Stock Code: 128878
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WILSON, Ernest H. China, Mother of Gardens.Boston : 1929
First edition, first printing, of this lavish account of China's botany and horticulture, and its impact on gardens in the West. "Born on the English Cotswolds in 1876, E. H. Wilson deserted college in 1899 to go plant hunting in China. From then until 1919 he made six trips to the Orient, covering in all more than twelve years, and won through his... Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 128434
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RAY, John. Catalogus plantarum Angliæ,London : 1670
First edition. "It is now a fairly uncommon book, though this may be partly explained by one of its main purposes, that is, to be used by botanists in the field, so that many copies would probably have been used up and destroyed" (Keynes). John Ray (1627-1705), "the son of a blacksmith, became one of England's greatest naturalists. He was pre-eminently... Learn More£2,250.00Stock Code: 125417
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WIGGINS, Francis S. The American Farmer's Instructor,Philadelphia : 1840
First edition of this guide to farming by Francis S. Wiggins (d.1840), the editor of the Farmer's Cabinet, an American agricultural periodical.
Learn More£425.00Stock Code: 124630
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HALLER, Albrech Von Enumeratio plantarum horti regii et agri Gottingensis. Aucta et emendata.Göttingen : 1753
Second edition, greatly enlarged, of Von Haller's 1743 work Brevis Enumeratio Stirpium Horti Goettingensis. Haller organised the botanical garden at Göttingen University during his professorial tenure; this work is a classification of the plants in the garden, utilising Haller's own non-Linnaean taxonomical system. Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 121700
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SPEECHLY, William A Treatise on the Culture of the Vine.York : 1790
First edition. William Speechly (c.1740-1821) was gardener to the third Duke of Portland at his Welbeck Abbey estate in Nottinghamshire. Encouraged by the duke Speechly started writing down and publishing his knowledge and experience in gardening; in 1776 he had contributed to Alexander Hunter's edition of Evelyn's Silva, which was shortly followed... Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 120229
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HITT, Thomas. A Treatise of Fruit-Trees.London : 1755
First edition of this early work on fruit growing and arboriculture from a notable 18th-century professional gardener for private estates. Hitt (d. 1770) completed his apprenticeship in the gardens of Belvoir Castle during the time of John Manners, second Duke of Rutland. Soon after he became the gardener of Bloxholm Hall in Lincolnshire, home to Lord... Learn More£2,000.00Stock Code: 117679
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PRINCE, William. A Short Treatise on Horticulture.New York : 1828
First and sole edition. Despite Prince's objective being to simply "give a few brief remarks as to the Culture of Fruit Trees, &c. by throwing together some of the leading rules, whose adoption has proved most successful" (Preface), A Short Treatise on Horticulture was immensely popular and influential, becoming one of the most important early American... Learn More£1,125.00Stock Code: 116896
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MORSE, Lester. Morse's Garden Guide for 1911.San Francisco : 1911
First edition, first printing. A rare and profusely illustrated seed catalogue, this edition presents the stock of C. C. Morse & Company which was founded by Charles Copeland Morse, the "American Seed King". The company were particularly renowned for their "Sweet Pea Workshop", which developed new varieties for sale each season. Their three newest creations,... Learn More£200.00Stock Code: 116832
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MILLER, Philip. The Gardeners Dictionary:London : 1735
First octavo edition, an abridgment of the first comprehensive dictionary of gardening. Philip Miller (1691-1771) was the most distinguished and influential British gardener of the 18th century. His dictionary is a noteworthy milestone in the great sequence of encyclopaedias and dictionaries of that era, fit to rank with John Harris's Lexicon Technicum... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 116084
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THORBURN, Grant & Son[s]. Price Catalogue of Kitchen Garden, Herb, Flower, Tree and Grass Seeds, Bulbous Flower Roots, Greenhouse Plants, Agricultural, Gardening and Botanical Books, Garden Tools, Etc. For Sale by G. Thorburn & Sons, Seedsman and Florists, 67 Liberty Street, New-YNew York : 1830s
An impressive, large and unrecorded broadside from one of the most important horticultural firms of the day, listing over a thousand varieties of vegetable, herb and ornamental plants, as well as books and tools. The printer was at this address in 1832. Of note, is the cancelling by hand of the "S" of the word "Sons", no doubt a result of William Thorburn... Learn More£2,000.00Stock Code: 115416
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GOTHEIN, Marie Louise. A History of Garden Art.London : 1928
First edition in English, originally published in German in 1913. With a superb provenance: from the library of the artist Walter Beck (1864-1954), with his delightful "Singing Trees" bookplates (designed by him and wood-engraved by T. Cole) and captioned "Innisfree" after his celebrated gardens at Millbrook, New York; both volumes - but particularly... Learn More£3,500.00Stock Code: 114828
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REPTON, Humphry. Fragments on the theory and practice of Landscape Gardening.London : 1816
First edition of Repton's last treatise on landscape gardening, written together with his son. Fragments is illustrated in the familiar Repton manner, with overslips used to show the changed landscape before and after Repton's improvements. He was by now famous, mentioned for example in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park (1814) as the generic name of all... Learn More£22,500.00Stock Code: 114884
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ROYAL BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND SOCIETY. Letters and Papers on Agriculture, Planting, &c.Bath : 1780
First edition of the first significant publication of the Royal Bath and West of England Society, published three years after the society was founded. From the library of natural history collector William Constable (1721-1791), whose Cabinet of Curiosities was donated to Hull City Museums in the 1960s, with his armorial bookplate to the front pastedown.... Learn More£700.00Stock Code: 114554
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DUHAMEL DU MONCEAU, Henri-Louis. A Practical Treatise of Husbandry:London : 1759
First edition in English. The first part of Duhamel du Monceau's treatise was published in France in 1750 as Traité de la culture des terres; five other parts followed, the last one published in 1760. Quesnay's entry on agriculture, which appeared in the first volume of the Encyclopédie in 1751, was influenced by the work of Duhamel du Monceau. The... Learn More£550.00Stock Code: 114569
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JEKYLL, Gertrude. Old West SurreyLondon : 1904
First edition, first impression. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 111273
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JEKYLL, Gertrude. Wall and Water Gardens.London : [1901]
First edition, first impression. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 106258
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[FORBES, Francis.] Miscellaneous Dissertations on Rural Subjects.London : 1775
First edition. Forbes was a disciple of Jethro Tull and a keen proponent of the "new husbandry". The book contains four dissertations: on fences; manures; drill-sowing; and hydraulics and water-management. The plates include one of a drill plough. Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 104265
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JEKYLL, Gertrude. Wall and Water Gardens.London : [1901]
First edition, first impression. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 101101
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BENTLEY, Nicolas. "Farmer George".[c.1960s]
A lively caricature of King George III planting a tree, dubbed "Farmer George" for his passionate interest in agriculture.
The cartoons and illustrations of Nicolas Bentley (1907-1978) were part of the warp and weft of English popular culture in the 1950s and 60s. Never savage, though often waspishly accurate and exuding an urbane air of amusement... Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 100796
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GOUGH, Kathleen. A Garden Book for Malaya.London : 1928
First edition, first impression. Publisher's file copy with their bookplate to front pastedown. Not to be confused with the anthropologist of the same name, Kathleen Gough was a British expatriate and fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society who lived a few miles away from Kuala Lumpur in the town of Kajang. Highly uncommon in this condition with the... Learn More£350.00Stock Code: 96724
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JEKYLL, Gertrude. Children and Gardens.London : 1908
First edition, first impression. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 95223
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JEKYLL, Gertrude. Lilies for English Gardens.London : 1901
First edition, first impression. Learn More£1,250.00Stock Code: 95230
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STOCK, Dennis. Flower Show.Udine : 1986
First edition, first impression. Presentation copy inscribed by Dennis Stock on the half-title: "For Art the 'Chucker', in appreciation of a delightful week. Dennis Stock, Aug. 18, 1989". Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 90088
