Playing at Botany

London: Wells Gardner, Darton & Co, 1902. Third Edition. Hardcover. Good. Third Edition. Hardcover. When young Rhoda laments her embarrassment in not knowing the difference between a buttercup and a daisy and dreams aloud that she could learn from the flowers themselves, good Dame Nature and wise Lady Science themselves appear in person to grant her wish, instructing the best-known member of each of Dame Nature's twelve chief tribes to tutor Rhoda themselves. Our heroine, with little brother Hugh reluctantly in tow, begins her lessons with "the strange yellow governess" Miss Buttercup, who instructs her in the difference between Dicotyledonous and Monocotyledonous plants, her "little frog" tribe of Ranunculus, her family name of Bulbosus, and the various components of her structure, from root to stamen, calyx, pistil, and petal. Rhoda and Hugh's other teachers include sober Mr. Cheiranthus the Wall-Flower, the well-connected Miss Daisy and her assistants, stately Mr. Foxglove and his carrier bee, Rhoda's namesake Miss Dog-Rose, pretty Master Peas-blossom, grave Mr. Hemlock, the affronted Mr. White Dead-Nettle, "the fair maid of February" Miss Snowdrop, demure Miss Primrose, fragrant Miss Violet, and the imperious Mr. Early Purple Orchis. Each flower represents their "tribe" or genus and their teachings conclude with helpful notes provided by Lady Science at the end of each chapter. A charmingly personal Victorian guide, published in 1900, to the "flower folk" fitting for all ages, which will have you joining The Parents Review in 1892 in declaring, "the work is a charming one and converts the flowers into familiar friends."

8 1/2" X 5 5/8". xv, 205pp, plus one page of ads. Presents nicely in protective archival jacket. Bound in sky blue cloth over boards, with bouquet of daisies stamped in white and dark green and bundled with a pink ribbon to upper board, white blossom and green leaves to spine, with both lettered in gilt. Blossom and title stamped in green to rear board. Moderate to heavy wear to binding, with warping to boards, gentle bumping to extremities, hard rubbing to top edges, and mild soiling and scattered rubbing to boards. Tissue-guarded chromolithographic frontispiece by Rose Hue. Rather clumsy previous glue repair to front hinge. Binding remains quite firm and sound. Bookseller's ticket of Blink & Sons, Ramsgate to rear pastedown. About 10 of the 150 figures studiously water-colored in by a previous owner and pages have a pronounced musty scent. Illustrated in chromolithographic frontispiece by Rose Hue and over 150 botanical vignettes by Dr. Henry Godfrey.