The Gardener's Assistant: Practical and Scientific, a Guide to the Formation and Management of the Kitchen, Fruit and Flower Garden and the Cultivation of Conservatory, Green-house and Stove Plants, with a Copious Calendar of Gardening Operations

London, Blackie & Son, [1859], First edition, true first printing bound from the original 12 parts with prospectus bound in. . later half calf with raised bands, gilt vignettes in compartments, gilt spine title lettering, a slight touch of foxing on a few leaves but overall clean with clean and bright plates with tissue guards, near fine in handsome binding. . large 8vo [26 x 19 cm]; [4, prospectus], xv, 774, 8 [publisher's ads] pp, 12 fine hand-colored engraved plates from drawings by Mrs Withers, 268 wood-engraved illustrations, most text in double columns, tables, index. . A detailed and popular gardening work. The fine colored plates by Mrs Withers include fruit, flowers, orchids. She was botanical artist to Queen Adelaide and is mentioned in Sitwell's Fine Flower Books and Blunt's Art of Botanical Illustration. She contributed to some of the best botanical works of the period including Bateman's Orchids, Pomological Magazine, Maund's Botanist, etc and was praised by her contemporaries including Loudon. Massachusetts Horticultural Society Catalogue 310. Later editions, and there were many because of the book's popularity, did not have the plates hand colored. The other illustrations include tools, Victorian greenhouses, garden plans, plants, etc. A picture of this book is available on request by email.