1870 Rare First Edition - FIELD FLOWERS, A handy-book for the rambling by the famous botanist James Shirley Hibberd.

 

(Description)

Author: James Shirley Hibberd.
Title: Field Flowers, A handy-book for the rambling botanist, suggesting what to look for and where to go in the out-door study of British Plants. Illustrated with eight coloured plates and ninety wood engravings.
Publisher: London, Groombridge and Sons, 1870. First edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7 " X 5 ". 
Pages: iv-156 pages + (4) catalogue page.
Binding: Attractive and good full Victorian decorated cloth binding (hinges fine, overall slightly worn, soiled and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges gilt.
Content: Good content (bright and tight, some light foxing and staining on the preliminary and last pages - as shown, light toning due to previously inserted flower on page 16 - as shown, the inner hinge of endpapers worn but still tight - as shown).
Illustrations: complete with the beautiful 8 full-page hand-colored plates and the 90 other black&white in-text illustrations.

The book: Rare and attractive FIRST edition of this book about the Field Flowers by the most popular and successful gardening writers of the Victorian era! 

The author: James Shirley Hibberd (1825 – 16 November 1890) was one of the most popular and successful gardening writers of the Victorian era. He was a best-selling editor of three gardening magazines, including Amateur Gardening, the only 19th-century gardening magazine still being published today. He wrote over a dozen books on gardening and several more on natural history and related subjects. He promoted town gardening, aquariums, bee-keeping, vegetarianism, water recycling, environmental conservation and the prevention of cruelty to animals and birds, all before they were taken up as 'causes' in the twentieth century. Most important of all, he taught and promoted amateur gardening, before it was acceptable among the gardening establishment, and helped to found the whole consumer industry in amateur gardening that we have today.