The Florist's Manual, Or, Hints For The Construction Of A Gay Flower-Garden; With Directions For Preventing The Depredations Of Insects, Observations On The Treatment And Growth Of Bulbous Plants, Curious Facts Respecting Their Management, And Directions For The Culture Of The Guernsey Lily

London: Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street, 1827. Paper-Covered Boards. Fine. New [third] Edition, enlarged, of this pioneering publication, one of the earliest horticultural works written specifically for women. Tall 12mo (186 x 109mm): viii,136 pp, with six hand-colored aquatints, including folding frontispiece (engraved by I. Clark with imprint: "Published for Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street, 1824"). Publisher's advertisement leaf precedes frontispiece. Recent brown paper-covered boards, putty-colored paper spine, and paper spine label printed in black (original label laid in), end papers renewed, edges untrimmed. An excellent wide-margined example, tightly bound and clean throughout with richly colored plates. Henrey II, pp. 583-4 and III, 873. Abbey (Life) 17. Percy, "Maria Elizabeth Jackson and her Floral Manual" (Garden History, Vol. 20, No. 1, Spring 1992), pp. 45-56 ("commands attention principally because of the very rarity of any gardening book written not only by a woman but for women before Jane Louden"). First published in 1816 (with only two plates), this third edition is a reissue of sheets of the 1822 enlarged edition with new title printed by Shackell and Baylis and one plate engraved by H. W. Timms with imprint "Published May 29. 1822 by Henry Colburn." Jackson's Botanical Dialogues Designed for the Use of Schools (1797) was praised by Erasmus Darwin, who listed it in his Plan for the conduct of Female Education, but The Florist's Manual was her most popular work. In it, she recommends color groupings, shaped borders, and methods of pest control. Included is a "Catalogue of Common Herbaceous Plants, with their Colours as they appear in each Season from February to August." N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).