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Until the nineteenth century, the investigation of natural phenomena, plants and animals was considered either the preserve of elite scholars or a pastime for the leisured upper classes. As increasing academic rigour and systematisation was brought to the study of 'natural history', its subdisciplines were adopted into university curricula, and learned societies (such as the Royal Horticultural Society, founded in 1804) were established to support research in these areas. A related development was strong enthusiasm for exotic garden plants, which resulted in plant collecting expeditions to every corner of the globe, sometimes with tragic consequences. This series includes accounts of some of those expeditions, detailed reference works on the flora of different regions, and practical advice for amateur and professional gardeners.

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222 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Botany and Horticulture

Page 6 of 12

A Third Pot-Pourri
  • Maria Theresa Villiers Earle
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    18 December 2014
    First published in:
    1903
  • Mrs C. W. Earle (1836–1925) was born into the minor aristocracy as Maria Theresa Villiers. After training as an artist, she married Captain C. W. Earle, who inherited family property which enabled a comfortable lifestyle with a town house in London and a small property with a large garden in Surrey. Earle's designs for her garden were much admired by her artistic and literary circle, and she was encouraged to write down her gardening advice. In 1903 she published this work, the third in a very successful series of writings about gardening, cookery, travel and art, but the emphasis in this book is very much on the importance of diet to health, though there are plenty of other topics. The final section of the book contains the last letters home of Mrs Earle's son Sydney, a captain in the Coldstream Guards, who was killed late in 1899 during the Boer War.

Old Time Gardens, Newly Set Forth
  • A Book of the Sweet o' the Year
  • Alice Morse Earle
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    18 December 2014
    First published in:
    1902
  • The American social historian and antiquarian Alice Morse Earle (1851–1911) published this work in 1901. She was a prolific writer of books and pamphlets on pre-revolutionary New England, and her writings were very popular with readers who took great interest in the social history and material culture of their country. In this work, which contains more than 200 illustrations, Earle describes the historic and modern gardens of the north-eastern seaboard, the gardening activities - for pleasure as well as for food - of early settlers, and the progress of plant-hunters and nursery-men such as John Bartram in discovering and categorising new specimens, as well as the introduction into the United States of cottage garden favourites from Europe and exotica from the Far East. Earle's Sundials and Roses of Yesterday (1902) is also reissued in this series.

Home and Garden
  • Notes and Thoughts, Practical and Critical, of a Worker in Both
  • Gertrude Jekyll
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1900
  • Gertrude Jekyll (1843–1932), the distinguished and influential garden designer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, originally trained as an artist but later turned her hand to craftwork, gardening, and plant collecting and breeding. During her career she collaborated with distinguished architects such as Sir Edwin Lutyens and reached a popular audience through the publication of articles in newspapers and magazines such as William Robinson's The Garden. Jekyll's second book, first published in 1890, is a collection of her advice and reflections on a range of topics, particularly those relating to her own home, Munstead Wood. It contains chapters on particular plants, and gives guidance on projects such as building rock gardens, as well as more idiosyncratic pieces on her cats, or the importance of one's own tools. Jekyll's informal tone and the range of topics discussed make this a fascinating work of social and gardening history.

More Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden
  • Maria Theresa Villiers Earle
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    29 January 2015
    First published in:
    1899
  • Mrs C. W. Earle (1836–1925) was born into the minor aristocracy as Maria Theresa Villiers. After training as an artist, she married Captain C. W. Earle, who inherited family property which enabled a comfortable lifestyle with a town house in London and a small property with a large garden in Surrey. Earle's designs for her garden were much admired by her artistic and literary circle, and she was encouraged to write down her gardening advice. This work, published in 1899, followed on from the success of her Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden (1897). It contains a similar collection of writings on gardening, cookery, travel and art, in chapters which follow the horticultural year from September to August. An introductory section describes with verve and good humour the critical reception of Earle's earlier book, and her reasons for writing another.

Wood and Garden
  • Notes and Thoughts, Practical and Critical, of a Working Amateur
  • Gertrude Jekyll
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    15 December 2011
    First published in:
    1899
  • Gertrude Jekyll (1843–1932) was one of the most influential garden designers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Skilled as a painter and in many forms of handicrafts, she found her metier in the combination of her artistic skills with considerable botanical knowledge. Having been collecting and breeding plants, including Mediterranean natives, since the 1860s, she began writing for William Robinson's magazine, The Garden, in 1881, and together they are regarded as transforming English horticultural method and design: Jekyll herself received over 400 design commissions in Britain, and her few surviving gardens are treasured today. Like Robinson's, her designs were informal and more natural in style than earlier Victorian fashions. In this, the first of fourteen books, published in 1899, she stresses the importance of being inspired by nature, and sums up her philosophy of gardening: 'planting ground is painting a landscape with living things'.

The Municipal Parks, Gardens, and Open Spaces of London
  • Their History and Associations
  • John James Sexby
  • Published online:
    05 February 2015
    Print publication:
    18 December 2014
    First published in:
    1898
  • This survey, and fascinating history, of the public green spaces of London was published in 1898. Its author, John J. Sexby, the Chief Officer of Parks of the London County Council, is described as a lieutenant-colonel and a professional associate of the Surveyors' Institution, from which it can be deduced that he probably worked as a surveyor in the army. His skills as a horticulturalist and garden designer cannot be doubted, and he left his mark on many of the municipal parks and gardens about which he writes with such enthusiasm. Sexby focuses on the municipal parks (those maintained by local authorities) rather than the nationally managed parks in central London. He describes large open spaces such as Hampstead Heath as well as small, disused churchyards like that of St Dunstan's in Stepney, providing details of their former owners and use as well as their present condition.

Memorials Journal and Botanical Correspondence of Charles Cardale Babington
  • Charles Cardale Babington
  • Edited by Anna Maria Babington
  • Published online:
    05 September 2014
    Print publication:
    21 February 2013
    First published in:
    1897
  • Collated by his widow and published in 1897, this collection of memorials, journal extracts and letters of Charles Cardale Babington (1808–95) demonstrates the esteem in which he was held by so many. An influential professor of botany at Cambridge, Babington left to the university a legacy that included the huge herbarium that he had partly funded himself, as well as some 1,600 volumes from his own library. His benevolence and generosity of knowledge, time and money endeared him to many departments and societies, while his works on local flora inspired others to produce many of the county floras that are still used today. His Manual of British Botany (also reissued in this series) first appeared in 1843 and made a huge impact on the study of the subject. These collected writings and tributes will offer students and scholars valuable insight into the breadth of his scientific interests and achievements.

Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden
  • Maria Theresa Villiers Earle
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    18 December 2014
    First published in:
    1897
  • Mrs C. W. Earle (1836–1925) was born into the minor aristocracy as Maria Theresa Villiers. After training as an artist, she married Captain C. W. Earle, who inherited family property which enabled a comfortable lifestyle with a town house in London and a small property with a large garden in Surrey. Earle's designs for her garden were much admired by her artistic and literary circle, and she was encouraged to write down her gardening advice. With the help of her niece, Lady Constance Lytton (who provides an appendix on Japanese flower arranging), she published this book, the first of three, in 1897, and it was a great and immediate success. The reader is addressed directly and engagingly on topics ranging from gardening and cookery books to planting schemes, healthy recipes, interior decoration, and the rearing of boys and girls, together with plenty of practical advice on all aspects of gardening.

Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks Bart., K.B., P.R.S.
  • During Captain Cook's First Voyage in HMS Endeavour in 1768–71 to Terra del Fuego, Otahite, New Zealand, Australia, the Dutch East Indies, etc.
  • Joseph Banks
  • Edited by Joseph Dalton Hooker
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1896
  • Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820) was a British botanist and one of the most influential scientific patrons of the eighteenth century. After inheriting a fortune on the death of his father in 1761, Banks devoted his life to studying natural history. His fame following his participation in Captain Cook's epic voyage on the Endeavour between 1768 and 1771 led to his election as President of the Royal Society in 1778, a post which he then held until his death. This volume, first published in 1896, contains Banks' account of the voyage of the Endeavour across the Pacific Ocean. Edited by the great botanist Sir Joseph Hooker, it describes in fascinating detail the peoples, cultures and wildlife Banks encountered in Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia. Banks' aptitude as a natural historian and the crucial role he played in cataloguing and illustrating exotic wildlife during the expedition are emphasised in the work.

A Garden of Pleasure
  • Eleanor Vere Boyle
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    05 March 2015
    First published in:
    1895
  • Eleanor Vere Boyle (1825–1916), who re-created the gardens of Huntercombe Manor in Berkshire in the 1870s, was a talented artist as well as an author, illustrating both poetry and books for children. Coming from an aristocratic family, and in later life a friend of Queen Alexandra, she produced sketches and watercolours admired by Ruskin and Landseer, and Tennyson and Bulwer Lytton contributed to her anthologies of poetry. One of a number of late nineteenth-century female writers on gardens (many of whose works have been reissued in this series), she was interested in the natural history of the garden rather than in botanical principles. This work, published in 1895, describes the sights, sounds and smells of her garden through the seasons of 1894, with frequent digressions on the weather, birds and animals, the folklore connected with individual plants, literary references, and observations on other gardens visited, in both Britain and Europe.

A History of Gardening in England
  • Alicia Amherst
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
    First published in:
    1895
  • Brought up among the extensive grounds of her family home at Didlington Hall in Norfolk, Alicia Amherst (1865–1941) was a keen gardener from an early age. Especially interested in socially beneficial gardening, she sat on the board of the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1900, encouraged the growing of smoke-resistant flowers in poor urban areas, and promoted the greater use of allotments and school gardens during the First World War. The product of four years' research, this learned and engaging work of horticultural history since Roman times was first published to great acclaim in 1895. It notably discusses the manuscript kept at Trinity College, Cambridge, of a fifteenth-century treatise in verse, The Feate of Gardening, which is the earliest existing account in English on the subject. Highly illustrated, Amherst's book also includes her annotated and chronological bibliography of printed works on gardening since 1516.

Memorials of Sir C. J. F. Bunbury, Bart
  • Volume 9, Later Life Part 5
  • Charles James Fox Bunbury
  • Edited by Frances Horner Bunbury, Katharine Horner Lyell
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1893
  • Sir Charles James Fox Bunbury (1809–86), the distinguished botanist and geologist, corresponded regularly with Lyell, Horner, Darwin and Hooker among others, and helped them in identifying botanical fossils. He was active in the scientific societies of his time, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1851. This nine-volume edition of his letters and diaries was published privately by his wife Frances Horner and her sister Katherine Lyell between 1890 and 1893. His copious journal and letters give an unparalleled view of the scientific and cultural society of Victorian England, and of the impact of Darwin's theories on his contemporaries. The final volume covers the years 1884–6. Bunbury's health was declining, but he kept up his journal- and letter-writing (although many of his contemporaries had predeceased him), and had many visitors. The volume ends with tributes written by his many friends.

Recollections of a Happy Life
  • Being the Autobiography of Marianne North
  • Volume 1
  • Marianne North
  • Edited by Janet Symonds
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1892
  • Marianne North (1830–90), the Victorian amateur botanist and painter, travelled to distant countries of the world to paint exotic flora in their natural surroundings. This two-volume collection of her memoirs, edited by her sister and published in 1892, records North's remarkable travels. Laden with her palettes and easels, the independent North travelled alone and fended for herself. Her journals describe how she endured swarms of insects, scaled cliffs, trudged through wilderness and crossed swamps in order to reach the plants she wanted to paint. Volume 1 covers North's early upbringing and the origins of her enthusiasm for nature, and traces her travels through Canada and the United States, Jamaica, Brazil, Japan, Borneo, India and Sri Lanka. This fascinating autobiography reveals the stories behind North's art, which can still be appreciated today since she bequeathed her vivid paintings to Kew Gardens, where they are on display.

Cocoa
  • All about It
  • Richard Cadbury
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    13 November 2014
    First published in:
    1892
  • In Britain, the name of Cadbury has been synonymous with chocolate ever since John Cadbury opened his factory in 1831. This book, written by Richard Cadbury (1835–99) under the pen name 'Historicus', was published in 1892. It describes the natural history of the tropical American cocoa plant, its spread in cultivation across the world, and the history of its use. He also deals with the manufacturing process, as exemplified by the Cadbury factory at Bournville, surrounded by the model housing and leisure facilities which the family built for its workers. The processing of cocoa beans into solid and drinking chocolate is described in detail, with emphasis on the developments in machinery which simplified production. A chapter deals with the importance of the vanilla plant for flavouring, and an appendix gives guidance on the cultivation of cocoa trees. This remains a fascinating account of one of the world's most popular indulgences.

Memorials of Sir C. J. F. Bunbury, Bart
  • Volume 7, Later Life Part 3
  • Charles James Fox Bunbury
  • Edited by Frances Horner Bunbury, Katharine Horner Lyell
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1892
  • Sir Charles James Fox Bunbury (1809–86), the distinguished botanist and geologist, corresponded regularly with Lyell, Horner, Darwin and Hooker among others, and helped them in identifying botanical fossils. He was active in the scientific societies of his time, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1851. This nine-volume edition of his letters and diaries was published privately by his wife Frances Horner and her sister Katherine Lyell between 1890 and 1893. His copious journal and letters give an unparalleled view of the scientific and cultural society of Victorian England, and of the impact of Darwin's theories on his contemporaries. Volume 7 covers the years 1873–7. With advancing age there are many notices of deaths or illnesses of friends or colleagues, such as Sedgwick, Agassiz and Lyell, but Bunbury was still enthusiastically discussing his reading with correspondents.

Memorials of Sir C. J. F. Bunbury, Bart
  • Volume 8, Later Life Part 4
  • Charles James Fox Bunbury
  • Edited by Frances Horner Bunbury, Katharine Horner Lyell
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1892
  • Sir Charles James Fox Bunbury (1809–86), the distinguished botanist and geologist, corresponded regularly with Lyell, Horner, Darwin and Hooker among others, and helped them in identifying botanical fossils. He was active in the scientific societies of his time, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1851. This nine-volume edition of his letters and diaries was published privately by his wife Frances Horner and her sister Katherine Lyell between 1890 and 1893. His copious journal and letters give an unparalleled view of the scientific and cultural society of Victorian England, and of the impact of Darwin's theories on his contemporaries. Volume 8 covers the years 1878–83. Family and social matters, and comments on the disturbed political state of Europe, and British military engagements in Africa and Afghanistan, predominate, although Bunbury also comments on plants he has seen and books he has read.

Recollections of a Happy Life
  • Being the Autobiography of Marianne North
  • Volume 2
  • Marianne North
  • Edited by Janet Symonds
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1892
  • Marianne North (1830–90), the Victorian amateur botanist and painter, travelled to distant countries of the world to paint exotic flora in their natural surroundings. This two-volume collection of her memoirs, edited by her sister and published in 1892, records North's remarkable travels. Laden with her palettes and easels, the independent North travelled alone and fended for herself. Her journals describe how she endured swarms of insects, scaled cliffs, trudged through wilderness and crossed swamps in order to reach the plants she wanted to paint. Volume 2 covers North's travels to Australia and New Zealand, which she undertook at the suggestion of Charles Darwin. The work concludes with the last journey she made, to Chile in 1884–5, to paint the monkey-puzzle tree in its natural habitat. This autobiography reveals the stories behind North's art, which can still be appreciated today since her vivid paintings are displayed at Kew Gardens.

Memorials of Sir C. J. F. Bunbury, Bart
  • Volume 3, Middle Life Part 2
  • Charles James Fox Bunbury
  • Edited by Frances Horner Bunbury, Katharine Horner Lyell
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1891
  • Sir Charles James Fox Bunbury (1809–86), the distinguished botanist and geologist, corresponded regularly with Lyell, Horner, Darwin and Hooker among others, and helped them in identifying botanical fossils. He was active in the scientific societies of his time, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1851. This nine-volume edition of his letters and diaries was published privately by his wife Frances Horner and her sister Katherine Lyell between 1890 and 1893. His copious journal and letters give an unparalleled view of the scientific and cultural society of Victorian England, and of the impact of Darwin's theories on his contemporaries. Volume 3 covers the years from 1848 to 1856. In 1848 Bunbury published a well-received account of South Africa, and particularly its natural history: he had accompanied Sir George Napier, his step-mother's father, then governor general. Another notable event was a meeting in Berlin with Alexander von Humboldt.

Memorials of Sir C. J. F. Bunbury, Bart
  • Volume 6, Later Life Part 2
  • Charles James Fox Bunbury
  • Edited by Frances Horner Bunbury, Katharine Horner Lyell
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1891
  • Sir Charles James Fox Bunbury (1809–86), the distinguished botanist and geologist, corresponded regularly with Lyell, Horner, Darwin and Hooker among others, and helped them in identifying botanical fossils. He was active in the scientific societies of his time, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1851. This nine-volume edition of his letters and diaries was published privately by his wife Frances Horner and her sister Katherine Lyell between 1890 and 1893. His copious journal and letters give an unparalleled view of the scientific and cultural society of Victorian England, and of the impact of Darwin's theories on his contemporaries. Volume 6 covers the years 1869–72. Bunbury was less active in scientific matters than before, but still reading copiously, carrying on a busy social life, and developing the gardens of his home in Suffolk. There are many comments on current affairs and politics.

Memorials of Sir C. J. F. Bunbury, Bart
  • Volume 1, Early Life
  • Charles James Fox Bunbury
  • Edited by Frances Horner Bunbury, Katharine Horner Lyell
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1891
  • Sir Charles James Fox Bunbury (1809–86), the distinguished botanist and geologist, corresponded regularly with Lyell, Horner, Darwin and Hooker among others, and helped them in identifying botanical fossils. He was active in the scientific societies of his time, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1851. This nine-volume edition of his letters and diaries was published privately by his wife Frances Horner and her sister Katherine Lyell between 1890 and 1893. His copious journal and letters give an unparalleled view of the scientific and cultural society of Victorian England, and of the impact of Darwin's theories on his contemporaries. Volume 1 begins with a short autobiographical memoir written by Bunbury towards the end of his life, and ends with his marriage to Frances Horner in 1844. It demonstrates his interest in science, encouraged by his parents and continued at Cambridge and during travels in Europe and South America.

Page 6 of 12