AI Overview
The image shows the title page and frontispiece plate of an antique 19th-century horticultural book titled The Gardener's Library of Fruits. Part I. A Practical Treatise on the Culture and Management of the Vine, Under Glass and in the Open Air.
Key Details of the Book:
Authorship: Written by the editors of The Floricultural Cabinet, a popular Victorian gardening periodical.
Publication Date: Published in 1858 (indicated by historical library records and the book's original preface dated March 20, 1858).
Publishers: Released by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. in London and John Menzies in Edinburgh.
Original Price: Marked at the bottom as Price 2s. 6d. (two shillings and sixpence).
Illustration: The left-hand plate is a hand-coloured botanical engraving featuring six distinct varieties of grapes (Vitis vinifera), showing their shapes, growth clustering, and colour profiles ranging from deep purple-black to translucent amber and green.
This is a very rare book in its original form
Now the bad news: page 15/16 is missing 🙁 - hence the starting price! I think also one colour plate has been removed; there are two, and one full page B&W line drawing
The condition is also poor, with the front pages either detached or detaching from each other, and the text block separated from the boards
However, it's still nice to have a copy that's 170 years old, IMO, and I'm sure the information will be quite fascinating to people who may be starting up a vineyard in the present climatic conditions 😅
Please click on the scans to 'supersize' them and see the details of the images, as these form the major part of the description
Do please check out my other items and also add me to your Saved Sellers List!
I will happily combine shipping within the UK
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Payment
I always get a Proof of Posting certificate, and if an item does get lost in the post I will forward it to you for you to make a claim, since as the Buyer you can claim the full amount of your loss
However, in over 20,000 parcels I've mailed out over the last fifteen years only about a dozen have gone astray, and most of these were overseas
If you're at all worried about losing something, do ask for Recorded Delivery - £1.90 extra in the UK
