John Evelyn Sylva 1664 Pomona Kalendarium Hortense 1ST ED Royal Society Folio NR

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OFFERED WITH NO RESERVE is the first edition of one of the great prose works of early science in English, the 1664 FIRST EDITION OF JOHN EVELYN’S ‘SYLVA,’ ‘POMONA,’ AND ‘KALENDARIUM HORTENSE,’ printed at London in folio for John Martyn and James Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, complete in all respects, constituting the FIRST WORK PUBLISHED BY THE ROYAL SOCIETY, bound in 19th century full English polished calf, and A NEAR FINE EXAMPLE IN REMARKABLY ATTRACTIVE CONDITION WITH AMPLE MARGINS. A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE OF THE RARE 1664 FIRST EDITION OF EVELYN’S ‘SYLVA,’ THE FIRST BOOK PUBLISHED BY THE ROYAL SOCIETY, THE FIRST WORK IN ENGLISH CONCERNING FOREST TREES, AND THE MOST INFLUENTIAL AND MOST WIDELY QUOTED WORK OF ARBORICULTURE IN ENGLISH. The full general title reads as follows: “Sylva, / Or A Discourse of Forest-Trees, and the Propagation of Timber In His Majesties Dominions, / By J.E. Esq; As it was Deliver’d in the Royal Society the xvth of October, CICICCLXII, upon Occasion of certain Quaeries Propounded to that Illustrious Assembly, by the Honourable the Prinipal Officers, and Commissioners of the Navy. / To which is annexed Pomona; Or, An Appendix concerning Fruit-Trees in relation to Cider; TheMaking and several ways of Ordering it. Published by express Order of the Royal Society. Also Kalendarium Hortense; Or, Gard’ ners Almanac; Directing what he is to do Monethly throughout the Year. / …London, Printed by Jo. Martyn, and Ja. Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society, and are to be sold at their Shop at the Bell in S. Paul’s Church-yard. / MDCLXIV [1664].” The full title of ‘Pomona’ reads as follows: “Pomona, or an Appendix concerning Fruit-Trees, In relation to Cider, The Making and several ways fo Ordering it. / … London, Printed by John Martyn and James Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society, and are to be sold at their Shop at the Bell in St. Paul’s Church-yard. MDCLXIV [1664].” The full title of the ‘Kalendarium Hortense’ reads as follows: “Kalendarium Hortense: Or, The Gard’ners Almanac; Directing what He is to do Monethly, Throughout the Year. / … London, / Printed by J. Macock, for John Martin, and James Allestry, and are to be sold at their Shop, at the sign of the Bell in St. Paul’s Church-yard. MDCLXIV [1664].” UNLIKE ALMOST EVERY EXAMPLE ON THE MARKET AT PRESENT, THE MARGINS OF THIS COPY ARE AMPLE THROUGHOUT, MEANING THAT THE UPPER MARGINS OF THE TITLES ARE NOT CROPPED. AGAIN UNLIKE ALMOST EVERY EXAMPLE ON THE MARKET AT PRESENT, THIS COPY INCLUDES ALL OF THE LEAVES THAT ARE OFTEN LACKING: THE IMPRIMATUR LEAF; THE ‘ANIMADVERSION’; ‘SIR PAUL NEILE’S SECOND PAPER’; AND THE ERRATA LEAF. From ODNB: “In 1652 Evelyn began to create the garden at Sayes Court, a project that signalled the beginning of his serious interest in botany and garden history. This led to his writing the Elysium Britannicum, an encyclopaedic history of gardens and gardening practices that occupied him for most of his life. Evelyn's pioneering work on tree cultivation (Sylva, 1664) and on soils (A Philosophical Discourse of Earth, 1676; in later editions entitled Terra: a philosophical discourse) were both outgrowths of the Elysium Britannicum. Although primarily intended to encourage tree planting after the devastation of the civil war, Sylva was a learned work addressed more to gentlemen than to foresters. In it he introduced the word ‘avenues’ into the English language of landscaping.” ‘Pomona’ is a “treatise on cider (and its virtues over wine and beer), the cultivation of fruit-trees, and a compilation of writers on the virtue of the drink.” The ‘Kalendarium Hortense’ is a “plain statement of how the garden is to be tended and planted month by month, and, being based on experience, can be used today as profitably as it was when it was written.” Evelyn’s great ‘Sylva,’ the first work of importance in English concerning forest trees, was written when the Royal Society was asked to investigate the production of timber for ship... read more

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