New Improvements of Planting and Gardening, both Philosophical and Practical, in Three Parts. To which is added that scarce and valuable tract intitled Herefordshire Orchards. The sixth edition, with an appendix treating of several matters omitted by Bradley, Richard - 1731

Paternoster Row & St Paul's Churchyard, London: J & J Knapton; A Bettesworth & C. Hitch; J. Pemberton & D. Browne, 1731. Sixth edition. [The title pages to parts II and III are dated 1730, as is Hereforshire Orchards;the title page to the appendix is 1731]. Thick octavo, pp xiv, 608, (25), with an engraved frontispiece and thirteen engraved plates (of which eight are folding), several plates are folded awkwardly, and several have frayed margins but only one has very slight loss of the engraved surface and it is this one which protrudes slightly from the fore-edge, some age-toning, occasional small splash marks, a little wear throughout, light early manuscript notes on the front endpapers, contemporary full calf, a bit worn and marked but perfectly sound, lacking tiny pieces at head and tail of the spine, the remains of a contemporary manuscript label on the spine. A reasonably good copy of one of the most influential of eighteenth century gardening books. Blanche Henrey 503. [ Little is known about Bradley's childhood aside from an early interest in gardening and the fact that he lived in the vicinity of London, a city at the time with many amateur naturalists. Though Bradley lacked a university education, his first publication, Treatise of Succulent Plants, gained him traction with influential patrons like James Petiver and later, Hans Sloane. With their support, he was proposed and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1712, at the age of 24. Two years later Bradley visited the Netherlands and took an interest in horticulture. He spent the next decade back in England writing treatises on topics related to this central interest, like weather, fertiliser, productivity, and plant hybridisation. In recognition of his work in the field and with the (thereafter unfulfilled) promise that he would found and fund a university botanical garden, the University of Cambridge named Bradley its first professor of botany in 1724, a position he would hold until his death. As Bradley was not a wealthy man in his later life, and as this was an unsalaried position, the newly minted academic continued to focus most of his efforts on making a living through publishing. According to his rival and successor, John Martyn, as well as his successor, son Thomas Martyn, Bradley did this at the expense of his students, whom he reportedly neglected to even lecture to. Bradley made notable innovations and discoveries across a wide array of disciplines. For example, this work included directions for the making and use of a rudimentary kaleidoscope to aid in formal garden design and layout. He also wrote about cooking, and was the first to publish recipes in the English language using the then-exotic pineapple as the main ingredient. His History of Succulent plants was the seminal treatise on the topic, and his studies of tulips and auriculas helped further accurate theories of plant reproduction. Bradley was also a pioneer in the examining of fungal spore germination and the pollination of plants by insects. His publications additionally contained information on how to build and use greenhouses, early theories regarding agricultural productivity, and pond ecology. ]. Sixth edition. Half-Leather. Fair.