Catalogue 288 - Antiquariaat Junk

The ‘SPECIAL CROWN ISSUE’ of this well-known and beloved flower-book. Only a
few copies have been produced of this ‘de luxe’ edition. It is of utmost rarity and is not
mentioned in any of the standard bibliographies. The illustrations are the same as in the
corresponding volumes of the ordinary edition, but instead of being grouped in fours,
only one is illustrated to a plate. Each one is handcoloured with much greater care than
in the ordinary issue. All plates are surrounded by uniform and finely engraved borders,
which are surmounted by a crown. The first volume has an inserted leaf with the following
text: “To her most gracious Majesty the Queen. In grateful acknowledgement of her
Condescension and Patronage, this volume is most respectfully dedicated. By her Majesty’s
most obliged and devoted servant Benjamin Maund”. A fine copy.
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[36] MILLER, P. The Gardener's and Botanist's Dictionary; containing
the best and newest methods of cultivating and improving the Kitchen,
Fruit, and Flower Garden, and Nursery; of performing the practical parts
of agriculture; of managing vineyards.... to which are now first added, a
complete enumeration and description of all plants hitherto known....
the whole corrected and newly arranged... by Thomas Martyn. London,
printed for F.C. and J. Rivington...., 1807. 2 volumes bound in 4. Folio
(424 x 265mm). With 15 engraved botanical plates and 5 engraved plates of
a conservatory, green house, ice house, pine stove, vinery. Contemporary
calf, sides with gilt and blind tooled borders, spines in 7 compartments
with gilt and blind tooled ornaments, gilt lettering, inside dentelles.
€ 4900
A splendidly bound copy of the most important botanical dictionary published in England.
The work was first published in 1731 and went through innumerable editions and
virtually all editions are of taxonomic significance, both for documenting plant introduction
in Great Britain, and in determinating species. The present edition, however, is the
most important one.
“On 18 May 1788 Thomas Martyn was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In the previous
year he started work on a new edition of Philip Miller’s ‘Gardeners dictionary’. Some
interesting details concerning this great task are recorded by Gorham; the renumeration
agreed upon between Martyn and the publishers, Messrs. White and Rivington, was
1,000 guineas: a sum Martyn did not consider very advantageous, as he expected to be
occupied eleven years on the undertaking.
The work was begun on 11 November 1785; the first sheet was received from the press on
29 December 1792... and the whole was published on 21 December 1807, in four very
large folio volumes (titled as two volumes, in two parts), price fourteen guineas... Martyn
informed Richard Pulteney: The Dictionary advances; but I shall find it a long and heavy
business. Besides the addition of all new species, the generic and specific characters must
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