Beschreibung:

PARKINSON, John (1567-1650). Paradisi in sole Paradisus Terrestris. Or a Garden of all sorts of pleasant flowers ... London: Humfrey Lownes and Robert Young 1629. 2 o (328 x 210 mm). Woodcut title with elaborate scene of the Garden of Eden, signed "A Switzer" (lower right corner torn away with loss of some image and text), 108 full-page woodcuts each with numerous figures of plants, one full-page woodcut of garden designs, 3 small text woodcuts, woodcut head- and tail-pieces and initials. (Last leaf frayed at edges, some browing and pale spotting.) Contemporary English blind-ruled calf (skilfully rebacked preserving original spine, some minor wear and soiling). Provenance : "Inner N1-2" (ink inscriptions on inner board and flyleaf). FIRST EDITION of the first important English treatise on horticulture. Parkinson was apothecary and botanist to Charles I. Of the nearly 1000 plants described in the Paradisus , which treats in detail the flower garden, kitchen garden and orchard, a large number grew in Parkinson's own garden at Long Acre. The book is filled with references to contemporary botanists and gardeners, and it provides one of the best single sources of information on gardening practices and styles in early 17th-century England, "in such a delightful, homey style that gardeners cherish it to the present day" (Hunt). Henrey 282; Hunt 215; Nissen BBI 1489; Pritzel 6933; STC 19300.