38
137.HUXLEY, Anthony et al. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening Macmillan Press Limited and the Stockton Press, New York. 1992.
£150
4to. 4 vols, Original dark orange cloth, gilt lettering to uppers and spines; B7w illustrations throughout; near fine.
136 137
136.HUTCHINSON, A.S.M. The Golden Pound and Other Stories. Hodder and Stoughton. 1930
£248
8vo., original cloth with dust wrapper designed by Eugene Hastain. Spine of wrapper a little browned otherwise a near fine copy.
First edition.
First US edition. Anthony Huxley (1920-1992), son of the famous biologist Julian, was a respected botanist and horticulturalist in his own right. Editing this definitive work proved be both his crowning achievement and his greatest burden. “There is no doubting that his last great publishing commission, as general editor of the massive four-volume New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening, sapped a great deal of Anthony’s energy during his last illness. Although he did live to see its publication this year he made no secret of the angst its preparation caused him. Two years ago I asked him if he would write for Hortus an account of this remarkable book’s genesis. His reply, dated December 1990, says, ‘A discourse on how the job was achieved might be refreshing but probably libellous . . .’ Despite the dictionary’s flaws (he was exasperated by errors which could have been corrected), it stands as a permanent memorial to a man whose marshalling of people and plants was seemingly easy and equally efficient.” (“Obituary: Anthony Hxley”, David Wheeler, The Independent 04/01/1993).
‘A VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO GEOGRAPHICAL AND ETHNOGRAPHICAL LITERATURE’
138. JAMES, Edwin. Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, Performed in the Years 1819, 1820. By Order of the Hon. J.C. Calhoun ... under the Command of Maj. S.H. Long ... Compiled from the Notes of Major Long, Mr. T. Say, and Other Gentlemen of the Party. London: A. & R. Spottiswoode for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1823.
£2,995
8vo, 3 volumes. Contemporary English half plum calf over marbled boards, spines gilt in compartments, gilt morocco lettering-pieces in 2, others decorated, marbled edges; pp. I: vii, [1 (blank)], 344; II: iii-vii (title, verso blank, contents), [1 (blank)], 356; III: iii-vii (title, verso blank, contents), [1 (blank)], 347, [1 (imprint)]; acquatint frontispieces by J. Clark after S. Seymour, those in volumes I and II hand-coloured, 4 acquatint plates by Clark after Seymour, one hand-coloured engraved plate, one engraved folding map on 2 joined sheets, and one engraved folding plate of geological sections by Sidney Hall, woodcut illustration, ll. I, I5, R4, T3, and T7, and II, E6 cancellantia; spines a little discolored, some light rubbing at extremities, light offsetting onto vol. I frontispiece, occasional light spotting, offsetting or marking, plates a little spotted, short, skilfully-repaired tear on folding map, bound without half-titles in II and III, half-title not called for in I, otherwise a fresh and clean set in a contemporary binding.
First English edition. Edited by Edwin James (1797-1861), the expedition’s botanist and geologist, this work describes Major S.H. Long’s first expedition, which was (after those of Lewis and Clark, and Pike) the third significant expedition to explore the trans-Missippi West. Long traversed the Great Plains from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains across Kansas and Colorado, and the Account is notable for its illustrations and cartography; the large folding map records the ‘Great American Desert’ to the east of the Rocky Mountains, and notes that ‘The Great American Desert is frequented by roving bands of Indians who have no fixed places of residence but roam from place to place in quest of game’ — thus initiating the myth of the ‘Great American Desert’, which lasted for some decades. Nonetheless, Sabin considers the work ‘a valuable contribution to geographical and ethnographical literature’.
James’ Account was first published in Philadelphia in 1822-1823, and Bradford observes a number of differences between the Philadelphia edition and this London edition of 1823, which is ‘printed in a larger type and better style than the American issue. The plates are not the same, either in subject or in style of production [...] “The colored plates are, Distant View of the Early Mountains and Chasm of the Platte. The latter subject is not in the Phila[delphia] edition, neither are the following plates which are in the London edition: Pawnee Council; Kiawa Encampment; Shienne, Kaskaia and Awappaho portraits. The Phila[delphia] plate of Kaskaia lodge is reproduced as a woodcut in the London edition”’ (Bradbury).
Abbey, Travel 650 (not calling for half-title in III); Bradford 2638; BM(NH) II, p. 922; Howes J-41; Lowndes p. 1186; Sabin 35683; Wagner-Camp 25.
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