Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris. Faithfully Reprinted from the Edition of 1629.
London: Methuen, 1904. A remarkably fine facsimile of the first major horticultural work printed in English. Reproduces the text and illustrations, including the engraved title-page, portrait of Parkinson, garden diagrams, and numerous botanical plates. Front and rear boards have very minor soiling. Light foxing. Library ink stamp to margins of about fifteen pages. Pages untrimmed. A very, untrimmed good copy. Gray cloth spine with printed paper label over blue-green boards. Folio. 16], 612, 16 (index and table) pp. Item #16361
Paradisi was the first work published on English gardening, and has descriptions of nearly 1,000 plants, with many of the entries giving evidence of cross-breeding. It describes the proper cultivation of plants and is divided into three sections: the flower garden, the kitchen garden, and the orchard garden. At the beginning of each section, Parkinson (1567-1650) provides instructions on the “ordering” of each type of garden and advises the reader on various topics, including the layout of gardens, tools, soil, grafting, planting and sowing. His piety as a Roman Catholic is evident in Paradisi. In his introduction, Parkinson states that the sees the botanical world as an expression of divine creation; he believed that, through gardens, mankind could recapture something of Eden. After his death, Parkinson’s name was commemorated by Plumier in the Central American genus of leguminous trees Parkinsonia.
Henrey, 282; Hunt 215 (for the original edition).
Price: $950.00