1913 Scarce First Edition - The Rose Book by H.H. Thomas, Illustrated
Author: H. H. Thomas. Assisted by Walter Easlea. Illustrated by H. Essenhigh Corke.
Title: The Rose Book: A Complete Guide for Amateur Rose Growers.
Publisher: London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne, Cassell and Company, Limited, 1913. First Edition.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 8 x 5.5 inches.
Pages: xi-283 pages.
Binding: Publisher’s original richly decorated green cloth binding elaborately stamped in gilt, pink, blue, and green with an exceptionally beautiful Art Nouveau-inspired rose garden design to the upper cover and spine. Upper edge gilt. A remarkably attractive example in near fine condition with bright colours and sharp gilt decoration (hinges fine) under a protective, removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good to good content with foxing throughout as shown, heavier toward portions of the preliminaries and rear leaves. Endpapers toned as photographed. Publisher's presentation copy blindstamp to title page. The volume remains sound and clean.
Illustrations: Complete with all 8 tipped-in colour plates by H. Essenhigh Corke as called for, together with numerous black-and-white photographic illustrations throughout the text.
Estimate: (USD 300–400).
The book: A wonderfully evocative early twentieth-century gardening book devoted entirely to the cultivation and appreciation of roses, The Rose Book combines practical horticultural guidance with the aesthetic refinement characteristic of the Edwardian garden movement. Written for amateur growers yet richly informed by expert knowledge, the work explores every aspect of rose cultivation, from hybrid teas and climbing roses to pergolas, arches, pruning, soils, and exhibition techniques.
The present First Edition is especially desirable for its extraordinarily decorative publisher’s binding, among the more visually striking floral cloth designs of the period. The cover presents an idyllic formal rose garden framed by flowering pergolas and stylized botanical ornament in a distinctly Art Nouveau manner. The elegant design perfectly reflects the romantic fascination with roses that flourished in Britain immediately before the First World War.
Equally appealing are the sumptuous tipped-in colour photographs by H. Essenhigh Corke, whose richly saturated images capture the velvety textures and luminous forms of prized rose varieties with remarkable delicacy. The combination of horticultural expertise, fine colour illustration, and superb decorative binding makes this one of the more attractive and increasingly scarce rose books of the Edwardian era.
The author: Henry Herbert Thomas (1879–1948) was one of Britain’s best-known horticultural writers and editors during the early twentieth century. As editor of The Gardener and author of numerous influential gardening works, Thomas played an important role in popularizing practical gardening among middle-class readers while helping preserve traditional English gardening culture.
The illustrator: H. Essenhigh Corke was noted for his botanical and horticultural photography, particularly his richly coloured photographic studies of flowers. His tipped-in plates in The Rose Book remain notable examples of early twentieth-century colour reproductive work devoted to garden subjects.