Although without formal scientific training, Henry John Elwes (1846 1922) devoted his life to natural history. He had studied birds, butterflies and moths, but later turned his attention to collecting and growing plants. Embarking on his most ambitious project in 1903, he recruited the Irish dendrologist Augustine Henry (1857 1930) to collaborate with him on this well-illustrated work. Privately printed in seven volumes between 1906 and 1913, it covers the varieties, distribution, history and cultivation of tree species in the British Isles. The strictly botanical parts were written by Henry,...

Although without formal scientific training, Henry John Elwes (1846 1922) devoted his life to natural history. He had studied birds, butterflies and moths, but later turned his attention to collecting and growing plants. Embarking on his most ambitious project in 1903, he recruited the Irish dendrologist Augustine Henry (1857 1930) to collaborate with him on this well-illustrated work. Privately printed in seven volumes between 1906 and 1913, it covers the varieties, distribution, history and cultivation of tree species in the British Isles. The strictly botanical parts were written by Henry,...

Although without formal scientific training, Henry John Elwes (1846 1922) devoted his life to natural history. He had studied birds, butterflies and moths, but later turned his attention to collecting and growing plants. Embarking on his most ambitious project in 1903, he recruited the Irish dendrologist Augustine Henry (1857 1930) to collaborate with him on this well-illustrated work. Privately printed in seven volumes between 1906 and 1913, it covers the varieties, distribution, history and cultivation of tree species in the British Isles. The strictly botanical parts were written by Henry,...

Although without formal scientific training, Henry John Elwes (1846 1922) devoted his life to natural history. He had studied birds, butterflies and moths, but later turned his attention to collecting and growing plants. Embarking on his most ambitious project in 1903, he recruited the Irish dendrologist Augustine Henry (1857 1930) to collaborate with him on this well-illustrated work. Privately printed in seven volumes between 1906 and 1913, it covers the varieties, distribution, history and cultivation of tree species in the British Isles. The strictly botanical parts were written by Henry,...

Trained by his father, a market gardener, Philip Miller (1691 1771) rose to become Britain's most eminent horticulturalist in the eighteenth century. Following a period as a nurseryman in Southwark, he was appointed the head gardener of the Chelsea Physic Garden by the Society of Apothecaries in 1722, upon the recommendation of Sir Hans Sloane. Under Miller's supervision, the diversity of plants at Chelsea outstripped that of all other European botanic gardens. His talent was equally reflected in his writings. Miller's most famous work, The Gardener's Dictionary, ran to eight editions during...

This reissue contains two works by the botanist Maria Elizabetha Jacson (1755 1829), a Cheshire clergyman's daughter. Her interest in science, and especially botany, may have been encouraged by a family connection with Erasmus Darwin, but it was not until she was in her forties that domestic circumstances drove her to professional writing. In 1797 she published Botanical Dialogues, between Hortensia and her Four Children, an introduction to the Linnaean system for use in schools. This technically rather demanding work was recast for adults in 1804 as Botanical Lectures: 'a complete elementary...

Samuel Orchart Beeton (1831 77), the publishing entrepreneur who made his wife's Book of Household Management one of the bestselling titles of the century, gave his name to many other books of domestic, medical and general information for the middle classes. (The 1871 Book of Garden Management, published and probably compiled by him, is also reissued in this series.) This work was published in 1874 by Ward Lock, to whom Beeton was forced to sell his own business after a financial collapse in 1866. The book contains 'such full and practical information as will enable the amateur to manage his...

The Scottish landscape gardener and prolific horticultural writer John Claudius Loudon (1783-1843) published this manual on the practice of greenhouse or conservatory gardening in 1824. In his preface he remarks on the rise of greenhouses, which have 'now become an appendage to every villa, and to many town residences'. The work is directed at professional gardeners (and their employers) who may not have the requisite knowledge and skills to make the best use of this exciting new space. The first part of the work describes the practicalities of siting and constructing the greenhouse, how it...

The Scottish landscape gardener and prolific horticultural writer John Claudius Loudon (1783 1843) published this guide to suburban living in 1838. The book is intended to provide instruction on choosing a house or 'villa' (or the site on which to build one); on the furnishing of the house; and on the laying out, planting and general management of the garden and grounds. Loudon had also planned a section on horticulture, but was forced to postpone this to a separate volume, which was never written. Like most of Loudon's books (several of which have been reissued in this series), the work is...

The Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), a physician and pupil of Linnaeus, carried out his most important work in South Africa and Japan. Having studied in Amsterdam and Leiden, he was asked to go plant-hunting in areas where the Dutch East India Company's trading activities were opening up territory for scientific exploration. In 1771 he travelled to South Africa as a ship's doctor, spending three years searching for, classifying and propagating plants, while at the same time becoming fluent in Dutch, as only the Dutch were allowed to enter Japan, his ultimate destination....