Horticulture

12mo., Sixth Edition, on laid paper, with engraved frontispiece, some light offsetting to title; attractively bound in twentieth-century full polished calf, back with gilt bands, second compartment with red leather label lettered and ruled in gilt, a remarkably well-preserved, bright, crisp copy. Although attributed on title to Thomas Mawe, Gardener to the Duke of Leeds, this extraordinarily popular and influential work was actually written by the diffident John Abercrombie (1726-1806). The manuscript was duly submitted to Griffin, who asked his friend Mawe to read it. 'Mr. Mawes [sic] bore testimony to the merit of the production, and prefixed his name to the publication in order to give it that celebrity to which it was so justly entitled, for which he received a gratuity of twenty guineas' (Henrey p.363). The work was a tremendous success, continuing to be republished for over fifty years after the author's death, although his name did not appear on title until the seventh edition. It was heavily plagiarised, perhaps most notoriously as 'The Modern Gardener' (1771) by James Meader, who was subsequently sued, convicted and prevented from republication. Curiously, despite its immense popularity, EARLY EDITIONS ARE VERY SCARCE, ESPECIALLY IN THIS CONDITION. See Henrey II, 358 et seq.