AN OAK SPRING POMONA: A SELECTION OF RARE BOOKS ON FRUIT IN THE OAK SPRING GARDEN LIBRARY, DESCRIBED BY SANDRA RAPHAEL. by Raphael, Sandra. Introduction by Rachel Lambert Mellon - 1990

Upperville, Virginia: Oak Spring Garden Library, 1990. 276 pp, 4to (11 1/2" H). Patterned endpapers. "(This) is the second of a series of catalogues describing selections of the rare books and other material in the Oak Spring Garden Library, a collection formed by Mrs Paul Mellon. The 'Pomona' describes a hundred books and manuscripts about fruit, with illustrations taken from some of the most beautiful books on the subject, as well as original drawings or paintings. The earliest book described is Bussato's 'Giardino di Agricoltura' of 1592, the latest 'The Herefordshire Pomona', an encyclopaedia of apples and pears from the 1870s. In between there is a gathering of fruit books large and small: La Quintinie's 'Instruction pour les Jardins fruitiers', first published in 1690 and translated by John Evelyn three years later, Duhamel's 'Traite des Arbres fruitiers', and nearly fifty others from France and Britain, among them Brookshaw's giant 'Pomona Britannica' and a handful of pocket-sized books of directions on grafting and cultivating the best varieties available. Sections on fruit-growing in these two countries are followed by others on fruit elsewhere in Europe (including the books of Knoop, Gallesio, and Bivort) and fruit in America (with Downing, Hovey, and several sets of nurserymen's plates) before chapters on citrus fruit (beginning with Ferrari's 'Hesperides' of 1646), apples and pears, peaches and soft fruit, grapes, melons, and tropical fruit. Each description makes clear the background of the book concerned and its relationship to others, while a generous number of illustrations in colour and black and white help to give an impression of their contents. Many of the Oak Spring copies have particularly interesting associations, recorded in inscriptions, bookplates, or binding details, all of which are described." Minor soiling on top/bottom of text block. Dust jacket has light edge wear/wrinkling - mainly at top/bottom of spine and flap-folds, one 1" closed tear, small area of creasing a top corner of rear flap. . Hard Cover. Very Good+/Very Good.