.jpg?w=1)
Details
LOUDON, Jane Webb. The Ladies' Flower-Garden of Ornamental Perennials, London: William Smith, 1843-1844. 2 volumes, 4° (285 x 220mm.), 95 hand-coloured lithographed plates printed by Day & Haghe (some marginal soiling or browning, titles spotted), contemporary green cloth gilt, front covers stamped with gilt flower motif (covers and extremities rubbed, spine hinges partially torn away in sections, with some loss). FIRST EDITION.
Loudon's Ornamental Perennials was one of a highly popular series which influenced a generation of Victorian gardeners. Jane Webb married John Loudon (botanist, gardener, farmer and horticultural writer) in 1830, when she was 23 and he 47. He had sought her out after reviewing a copy of her first published novel The Mummuy, a Tale of the Twenty-Second Century. They met in February 1830 and married on 14 September. By 1838 John Loudon was seriously in debt and Mrs. Loudon was prompted to write botanical works on her own account. The Ladies' Flower Garden of Ornamental Annuals appeared in 1840, and proved to be the first of an increasing flow of populist works to appear throughout the 1840's, the best known of which, in addition to the present work, are The Ladies' Flower Garden of Ornamental Bulbous Plants (1841), ...of Ornamental Greenhouse Plants (1848) and British Wild Flowers (1846). "Loudon developed a simple formula for these works, combining a brief text with charming illustrations, an arrangement that appealed to her audience. For each plant a brief botanical description was provided, including its common name in English, its order and genus ... some historical and geographical notes, and instructions regarding its cultivation". Brunet II, 1185; Great Flower Books p. 115; Nissen BBI 1237. (2)
Loudon's Ornamental Perennials was one of a highly popular series which influenced a generation of Victorian gardeners. Jane Webb married John Loudon (botanist, gardener, farmer and horticultural writer) in 1830, when she was 23 and he 47. He had sought her out after reviewing a copy of her first published novel The Mummuy, a Tale of the Twenty-Second Century. They met in February 1830 and married on 14 September. By 1838 John Loudon was seriously in debt and Mrs. Loudon was prompted to write botanical works on her own account. The Ladies' Flower Garden of Ornamental Annuals appeared in 1840, and proved to be the first of an increasing flow of populist works to appear throughout the 1840's, the best known of which, in addition to the present work, are The Ladies' Flower Garden of Ornamental Bulbous Plants (1841), ...of Ornamental Greenhouse Plants (1848) and British Wild Flowers (1846). "Loudon developed a simple formula for these works, combining a brief text with charming illustrations, an arrangement that appealed to her audience. For each plant a brief botanical description was provided, including its common name in English, its order and genus ... some historical and geographical notes, and instructions regarding its cultivation". Brunet II, 1185; Great Flower Books p. 115; Nissen BBI 1237. (2)
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.