The Vegetable World

Boston: James B. Dow, 1833. Hardcover. First American edition; 6 x 4; pp. 260; early publisher's binding, olive green cloth over boards; morocco label with gilt title to spine; a bit of wear to cloth; two small nicks to tips of spine; text mostly very clean, but for some foxing to first and last few pages; previous owner's signature to front board verso; illustrated with a wood-engraved plate frontis; very good or better condition.An uncommon educational book, aimed at children and young adults and presented in the form of conversations between the Elwood children and their parents, it contains chapters on grapes, olives, dispersion of seeds, and more. The original owner of the book, Mrs. George A. Hayward (Ellen) of St. Louis, was a well known figure in the literary and society circles of mid-19th century Missouri, wife of businessman and investor in New Mexico copper mines George A. Hayward, and mother of Florence Hayward - the Woman Commissioner of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the only American woman to be made an Honorary Associate of The French Academy and the only one to receive a Gold Medal for services rendered, and a co-founder of the Artists' Guild.