Planting and Ornamental Gardening; A Practical Treatise

London: Printed for J. Dodsley, Pall Mall. 1785.

First edition. 8vo. pp. xii, [2], 638. Pagination repeats pp.305-320, but text is continuous and complete. Contemporary calf. Raised bands and six compartments. Burgundy label in second compartment with title in gilt. Some minor rubbing and shelfwear. This is, otherwise, a very nice, plain, honest binding which suits the subject matter well. The contents are in excellent condition. Overall, a fine/near fine copy of this encyclopaedic work by an important writer on horticulture, agriculture and the rural economy. 

In the introductory “advertisement” to this book, Marshall writes that “a Practical Treatise comprehending the entire subject of conducting rural improvements upon the principles of modern taste, has not hitherto appeared in public. This circumstance is the less to be wondered at, as the man of business and the man of taste are rarely united in the same person”. Marshall was an eminent writer on agriculture and the rural economy. This is “a treatise on the art of planting and laying-out plantations, and much of the work is devoted to a catalogue of trees and shrubs alphabetically arranged ‘under the generic names of Linneus: with a description, and the propagation, of each species’.”