Of course, these days it is de rigueur for books to attempt to seduce us with an attractive cover, but I must confess to buying this old book largely because of it's cover illustration.
Although the purchase was also, in part, because of the subject of “Art Out of Doors” (it's about garden design and is subtitled Hints on Good Taste in Gardening) and, in slightly larger part, because it was written by one Mrs Schuyler Van Renesselaer. What a great name.
It's an American book and mine is the 1925 reprint rather than the 1893 original.
It did however once belong to a lady called Barbara de Quincy., which I find strangely marvellous.
Although the purchase was also, in part, because of the subject of “Art Out of Doors” (it's about garden design and is subtitled Hints on Good Taste in Gardening) and, in slightly larger part, because it was written by one Mrs Schuyler Van Renesselaer. What a great name.
It's an American book and mine is the 1925 reprint rather than the 1893 original.
It did however once belong to a lady called Barbara de Quincy., which I find strangely marvellous.
5 comments:
It looks like you have found a rich seam of wonderful bookshops - where do you like browsing best? There was a brilliant one for unusual gardening books in Oxford which has now sadly closed down and I need a replacement (will travel!)
Nowhere specific - that would indeed be like an opium den - just endless wombling around second-hand bookshops, charity shops, bootsales, Ebay and other people's bookshelves.
There's one in Kew!1!!!!!1 come to Kew and I take you!!! it's called Lloyds of Kew - it just does gardening! Come NOW!
Is Barbara de Quincy related to Roger de Courcy? And if so is this how horticulture and ventriloquism first enmeshed?
On a more serious note, this is a lovely strand. I have a Saunders Complete Encyclopaedia of Gardening from around 1900 - cheap as chips, common as muck and not even slightly collectable, but the cover is wonderful. Good job really, because most of the advice involves nicotine and a 12 bore shotgun....
A gardening book owned by Barbara de Quincy.
Sounds like the combination of a poor Felicity Kendall show and a poor Jack Klugman show.
Didn't she solve the case of the man who'd been strangled by a Russian Vine?
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