1814 (about). 'The Botanic Garden,' by B. Maund.
I think this the most useful, from a modern gardener's
point of view, of all the old books in my possession.
Nothing approaches it for instructiveness in herbaceous
plants till we get to Eobinson's ' English Flower Garden.'
The complete set, consisting of sixteen volumes, is dim-
cult to find, though odd volumes or broken sets are often
advertised. This lovely * Botanic Garden ' is arranged
on an entirely new system. It is purely gardening and
botany, no medicine at all. The volumes are quarto,
and the illustrated page is divided into four. Each
square is filled with an illustration from a flowering
plant every one of which — from the tallest Hollyhocks
to the smallest Alpine — is drawn exactly the same size,
to fill the space. This, to my mind, is a grave fault,
continued to this day in flower illustration.
In some of the old Dutch books which I have seen,
but, alas ! do not possess, they had a plan of drawing the
flowering branch, life size, in the middle of the page, with
a small drawing in the corner representing the growth
of the whole plant. This is a sensible and instructive
method. I should like all flower illustration to be
exactly the size of a fine specimen in Nature, quite
regardless of filling or non-filling the page. To give a
correct impression of the plant illustrated is very much
NOVEMBER 213
more important than attempting to make uniform or
even artistic pictures.
But to return to Maund. The letterpress follows the
illustrations, one page to each plant, and the following
characteristics are given above the drawing in every
case : — (1) Name of country the plant comes from, (2)
height, (3) when it flowers, (4) duration of plant, (5) when
first cultivated. This gives, at a glance, a comprehensive
idea of the plant. There are constant allusions through
the book to Parkinson, Gerarde, and other old botanists.
The earlier plates are far superior, better drawn, and
more delicately coloured than those in the later volumes.
In the twenty-five years which were covered by the serial
issue of this publication the decline of flower-painting
marched apace.
1814. 'Flore Medicale. Decrite par F. P. Chaume-
ton, Docteur en Me"decine. Peinte par Madame E. P
et par P. J. F. Turpin.' This is a lovely book in eight
octavo volumes. The illustrations are most delicate and
fine, and in the Eedout6 manner. He influenced all
flower-painting at that time in Paris, professional as well
as amateur. Flower-painting only ceased to be good
when it was no longer considered the handmaid of
botany and medicine, which necessitated quite a different
order of merit and precision from what was required for
mere flower illustration for gardening purposes. One of
the useful and uncommon idiosyncrasies of this book is
that at the top of each page describing the plate the
name of the plant is given in seven European languages.
The curative properties of various medicines are named,
but there are, alas ! no cooking receipts. This is what
is said about Cardoons, the vegetable so little used in
England because the cooks do not know how to dress
it:—
' Le Garden Cynara cardunculus dont les feuilles
214 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN
Page 126
Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
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1814 (about). 'The Botanic Garden,' by B. Maund.
I think this the most useful, from a modern gardener's
point of view, of all the old books in my possession.
Nothing approaches it for instructiveness in herbaceous
plants till we get to Eobinson's ' English Flower Garden.'
The complete set, consisting of sixteen volumes, is dim-
cult to find, though odd volumes or broken sets are often
advertised. This lovely * Botanic Garden ' is arranged
on an entirely new system. It is purely gardening and
botany, no medicine at all. The volumes are quarto,
and the illustrated page is divided into four. Each
square is filled with an illustration from a flowering
plant every one of which — from the tallest Hollyhocks
to the smallest Alpine — is drawn exactly the same size,
to fill the space. This, to my mind, is a grave fault,
continued to this day in flower illustration.
In some of the old Dutch books which I have seen,
but, alas ! do not possess, they had a plan of drawing the
flowering branch, life size, in the middle of the page, with
a small drawing in the corner representing the growth
of the whole plant. This is a sensible and instructive
method. I should like all flower illustration to be
exactly the size of a fine specimen in Nature, quite
regardless of filling or non-filling the page. To give a
correct impression of the plant illustrated is very much
NOVEMBER 213
more important than attempting to make uniform or
even artistic pictures.
But to return to Maund. The letterpress follows the
illustrations, one page to each plant, and the following
characteristics are given above the drawing in every
case : — (1) Name of country the plant comes from, (2)
height, (3) when it flowers, (4) duration of plant, (5) when
first cultivated. This gives, at a glance, a comprehensive
idea of the plant. There are constant allusions through
the book to Parkinson, Gerarde, and other old botanists.
The earlier plates are far superior, better drawn, and
more delicately coloured than those in the later volumes.
In the twenty-five years which were covered by the serial
issue of this publication the decline of flower-painting
marched apace.
1814. 'Flore Medicale. Decrite par F. P. Chaume-
ton, Docteur en Me"decine. Peinte par Madame E. P
et par P. J. F. Turpin.' This is a lovely book in eight
octavo volumes. The illustrations are most delicate and
fine, and in the Eedout6 manner. He influenced all
flower-painting at that time in Paris, professional as well
as amateur. Flower-painting only ceased to be good
when it was no longer considered the handmaid of
botany and medicine, which necessitated quite a different
order of merit and precision from what was required for
mere flower illustration for gardening purposes. One of
the useful and uncommon idiosyncrasies of this book is
that at the top of each page describing the plate the
name of the plant is given in seven European languages.
The curative properties of various medicines are named,
but there are, alas ! no cooking receipts. This is what
is said about Cardoons, the vegetable so little used in
England because the cooks do not know how to dress
it:—
' Le Garden Cynara cardunculus dont les feuilles
214 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN