Pomological Magazine or, Figures and Descriptions of the Most Important Varieties of Fruit Cultivated in Great Britain.

London: James Ridgway, 1828. Full Description:

LINDLEY, John. The Pomological Magazine. or, Figures and Descriptions of the Most Important Varieties of Fruit Cultivated in Great Britain. London: James Ridgway, 1828-1830.

First edition. Three quarto volumes (9 7/8 x 6 1/4 inches; 250 x 160 mm). [2], 48, [2, index]; [1], 49-96, [[2, index]; [7], 97-152, [1, index], [1, ads] leaves. Complete with 152 hand-colored, engraved plates four of which are folding. Plates by S. Watts and W. Clark after Mrs Augusta I. Withers and Charles M. Curtis, many heightened with gum arabic. This book was reissued in 1841 under the title "Pomologia Britannica."
(truncated)
Contemporary half green morocco over marbled boards. Morocco triple-ruled in gilt and tooled in blind. Spines each with two red morocco spine labels, lettered in gilt. Spines stamped and dated in gilt. Top edges gilt, others uncut. Marbled endpapers. Boards with some rubbing. Some minimal repairs to hinges of volumes I and III. Corners and edges a bit bumped. Spines uniformly sunned to brown. Some occasional offsetting from plates and a bit of light foxing, but generally the plates are very clean and bright. Previous owner's bookplate on front pastedown of volumes II and III. Overall a very good set.

"British botanist whose attempts to formulate a natural system of plant classification greatly aided the transition from the artificial (considering the characters of single parts) to the natural system (considering all characters of a plant). In 1819 Lindley arrived in London where, with the help of the botanist Sir William Jackson Hooker, he obtained a position as an assistant librarian. In 1822 he became garden assistant secretary at the Horticultural Society for which, in 1830, he organized the first flower shows to be held in England. He then served as the first professor of botany at the University of London (University College), where he remained until 1860... He developed his own natural system of plant classification for his best-known book, The Vegetable Kingdom (1846). Although his system was never adopted by other botanists, it did much to enhance the popularity of the natural system in England."

Dunthorne 184. Nissen, BBI, 1203.

HBS 69004.

$7,500. (Inventory #: 69004)