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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 3 of 12

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.

Icones Plantarum
  • Or, Figures, with Brief Descriptive Characters and Remarks of New or Rare Plants, Selected from the Author's Herbarium
  • Volume 6
  • William Jackson Hooker
  • Published online:
    05 January 2015
    Print publication:
    08 November 2011
    First published in:
    1843
  • This world-famous work was begun by Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865) in 1837, and the ten volumes reissued here were produced under his authorship until 1854, at which point his son, Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911) continued the work of publication. Hooker's own herbarium, or collection of preserved plant specimens, was so extensive that at one point he stored it in one house and lived in another; it was left to the nation on his death. Each volume contains 100 line drawings of plants, and each is accompanied by a full Latin description, with notes in English on habitat and significant features. The order of the plants in each volume is not systematic, but two 'indexes' at the beginning provide plant lists, in alphabetical order and 'arranged according to the natural orders'.

Rustic Adornments for Homes of Taste
  • And Recreations for Town Folk, in the Study and Imitation of Nature
  • Shirley Hibberd
  • Published online:
    05 January 2015
    Print publication:
    03 October 2011
    First published in:
    1856
  • James Shirley Hibberd (1825–90) was a journalist and horticultural writer who worked as a bookseller before devoting his time to researching and lecturing and publishing on gardening. An active member of the Royal Horticultural Society, he edited several gardening magazines including Floral World, and his writing was widely enjoyed and respected. This book, first published in 1856, is Hibberd's carefully researched and practical guide to decorating the home and garden. Hibberd explains the practical aspects of garden design, the pleasures of bee-keeping, and how to construct a pond or aquarium. Full of useful advice on everything from preserving cut flowers to the ideal species of bird to keep in an aviary, this is a charming and enjoyable manual for the Victorian gardener which was very popular in its time, and remains a useful source for the cultural historian as well as an entertaining treat for the general reader.

Icones Plantarum
  • Or, Figures, with Brief Descriptive Characters and Remarks of New or Rare Plants, Selected from the Author's Herbarium
  • Volume 3
  • William Jackson Hooker
  • Published online:
    05 January 2015
    Print publication:
    08 November 2011
    First published in:
    1840
  • This world-famous work was begun by Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865) in 1837, and the ten volumes reissued here were produced under his authorship until 1854, at which point his son, Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911) continued the work of publication. Hooker's own herbarium, or collection of preserved plant specimens, was so extensive that at one point he stored it in one house and lived in another; it was left to the nation on his death. Each volume contains 100 line drawings of plants, and each is accompanied by a full Latin description, with notes in English on habitat and significant features. The order of the plants in each volume is not systematic, but two 'indexes' at the beginning provide plant lists, in alphabetical order and 'arranged according to the natural orders'.

Gnetales
  • H. H. W. Pearson
  • Edited by A. C. Seward
  • Published online:
    05 January 2015
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1929
  • Henry Pearson (1870–1916) was an English botanist specialising in research on the Gnetophyta division of woody plants. In 1903 he was elected to the Henry Bolus Professorship of Botany at the South African College, Cape Town (now known as the University of Cape Town), and he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1916 shortly before his death. In 1915 Pearson was commissioned to write this volume for the Cambridge Botanical Handbooks series. Published posthumously in 1929, it was the first extensive study on the Gnetales order and the only such study in English published during the twentieth century. In it, Pearson investigates the morphology and reproduction of the three Gnetophyta genera and examines their relation to the angiosperms (flowering plants). His research on Gnetophyta was later used together with genetic studies to provide theories explaining the evolution of seed plants.

Flora Capensis
  • Being a Systematic Description of the Plants of the Cape Colony, Caffraria and Port Natal, and Neighbouring Territories
  • Volume 5, Thymelaeaceae to Ceratophylleae; Gymnospermae, Part 2
  • Edited by William T. Thiselton-Dyer, Arthur W. Hill
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
  • This seminal publication began life as a collaborative effort between the Irish botanist William Henry Harvey (1811–66) and his German counterpart Otto Wilhelm Sonder (1812–81). Relying on many contributors of specimens and descriptions from colonial South Africa - and building on the foundations laid by Carl Peter Thunberg, whose Flora Capensis (1823) is also reissued in this series - they published the first three volumes between 1860 and 1865. These were reprinted unchanged in 1894, and from 1896 the project was supervised by William Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. A final supplement appeared in 1933. Reissued now in ten parts, this significant reference work catalogues more than 11,500 species of plant found in South Africa. Volume 5 appeared in three parts, the second comprising sections published between 1915 and 1925, covering Thymelaeaceae to Ceratophylleae. The 1933 supplement on Gymnospermae is also incorporated in this reissue.

Flora Capensis
  • Being a Systematic Description of the Plants of the Cape Colony, Caffraria and Port Natal, and Neighbouring Territories
  • Volume 1, Ranunculaceae to Connaraceae
  • William H. Harvey, Otto Wilhelm Sonder
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
  • This seminal publication began life as a collaborative effort between the Irish botanist William Henry Harvey (1811–66) and his German counterpart Otto Wilhelm Sonder (1812–81). Relying on many contributors of specimens and descriptions from colonial South Africa - and building on the foundations laid by Carl Peter Thunberg, whose Flora Capensis (1823) is also reissued in this series - they published the first three volumes between 1860 and 1865. These were reprinted unchanged in 1894, and from 1896 the project was supervised by William Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. A final supplement appeared in 1933. Reissued now in ten parts, this significant reference work catalogues more than 11,500 species of plant found in South Africa. Opening with a preface which clarifies the project's original scope, Volume 1 covers Ranunculaceae to Connaraceae.

Flora Capensis
  • Sistens plantas promontorii Bonae Spei Africes
  • Carl Peter Thunberg
  • Edited by J. A. Schultes
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
  • The Swedish botanist Carl Peter Thunberg (1743–1828), a physician and pupil of Linnaeus, carried out his most important work in South Africa and Japan. Having studied in Amsterdam and Leiden, he was asked to go plant-hunting in areas where the Dutch East India Company's trading activities were opening up territory for scientific exploration. In 1771 he travelled to South Africa as a ship's doctor, spending three years searching for, classifying and propagating plants, while at the same time becoming fluent in Dutch, as only the Dutch were allowed to enter Japan, his ultimate destination. Having acquired many Japanese specimens, he continued his travels and returned to Sweden in 1779. Three fascicles of this influential reference work in Latin on the South African flora were issued between 1807 and 1813. Reissued here is the full version edited by the Austrian botanist Josef August Schultes (1773–1831) and published in 1823.

Flora Capensis
  • Being a Systematic Description of the Plants of the Cape Colony, Caffraria and Port Natal, and Neighbouring Territories
  • Volume 7, Pontederiaceae to Gramineae
  • Edited by William T. Thiselton-Dyer
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
  • This seminal publication began life as a collaborative effort between the Irish botanist William Henry Harvey (1811–66) and his German counterpart Otto Wilhelm Sonder (1812–81). Relying on many contributors of specimens and descriptions from colonial South Africa - and building on the foundations laid by Carl Peter Thunberg, whose Flora Capensis (1823) is also reissued in this series - they published the first three volumes between 1860 and 1865. These were reprinted unchanged in 1894, and from 1896 the project was supervised by William Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. A final supplement appeared in 1933. Reissued now in ten parts, this significant reference work catalogues more than 11,500 species of plant found in South Africa. Volume 7 comprises sections that were published individually between 1897 and 1900, covering Pontederiaceae to Gramineae.

Flora Capensis
  • Being a Systematic Description of the Plants of the Cape Colony, Caffraria and Port Natal, and Neighbouring Territories
  • Volume 5, Acanthaceae to Proteaceae, Part 1
  • Edited by William T. Thiselton-Dyer
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
  • This seminal publication began life as a collaborative effort between the Irish botanist William Henry Harvey (1811–66) and his German counterpart Otto Wilhelm Sonder (1812–81). Relying on many contributors of specimens and descriptions from colonial South Africa - and building on the foundations laid by Carl Peter Thunberg, whose Flora Capensis (1823) is also reissued in this series - they published the first three volumes between 1860 and 1865. These were reprinted unchanged in 1894, and from 1896 the project was supervised by William Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. A final supplement appeared in 1933. Reissued now in ten parts, this significant reference work catalogues more than 11,500 species of plant found in South Africa. Volume 5 appeared in three parts, the first comprising sections published between 1901 and 1912, covering Acanthaceae to Proteaceae.

The Student's Flora of the British Islands
  • Joseph Dalton Hooker
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    21 August 2014
  • This textbook was originally published in 1870, but is here reissued in the third edition of 1884. Its object was 'to supply students and field-botanists with a fuller account of the Flowering Plants and Vascular Cryptograms of the British Islands than the manuals hitherto in use aim at giving'. Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911), one of the most eminent botanists of the later nineteenth century, was educated at Glasgow, and developed his studies of plant life through expeditions all over the world. (Several of his other works are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.) A close friend and supporter of Charles Darwin, he was appointed to succeed his father as Director of the Botanical Gardens at Kew in 1865. The flora is followed in this reissue by an 1879 catalogue of British plants compiled by the botanist George Henslow (1835–1925), intended as a companion volume.

The Auricula
  • The Story of a Florist's Flower
  • Rowland H. Biffen
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    10 July 2014
    First published in:
    1951
  • The plant geneticist Sir Rowland Biffen (1874–1949), who is best remembered for his work on the improvement of English wheat varieties using Mendelian principles, was also a keen botanist and gardener. This short work on the auricula, published posthumously in 1951, contains a full botanical account of the species, but also a social history of this most popular of 'florist's flowers'. Probably introduced to England by refugees from the continent in the late sixteenth century, the auricula, though delicate-looking, is extremely hardy, can be grown in pots, and hybridizes freely, and so it was an ideal plant for competitive growers, especially in the north of England, who in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries vied with each other to breed ever more spectacular varieties, while adhering to strict guidelines on form and proportion. This work, illustrated with seven black-and-white plates, will be of interest to botanists and garden historians alike.

Flora Capensis
  • Being a Systematic Description of the Plants of the Cape Colony, Caffraria and Port Natal, and Neighbouring Territories
  • Volume 4, Vacciniaceae to Gentianeae, Part 1
  • Edited by William T. Thiselton-Dyer
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
  • This seminal publication began life as a collaborative effort between the Irish botanist William Henry Harvey (1811–66) and his German counterpart Otto Wilhelm Sonder (1812–81). Relying on many contributors of specimens and descriptions from colonial South Africa - and building on the foundations laid by Carl Peter Thunberg, whose Flora Capensis (1823) is also reissued in this series - they published the first three volumes between 1860 and 1865. These were reprinted unchanged in 1894, and from 1896 the project was supervised by William Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. A final supplement appeared in 1933. Reissued now in ten parts, this significant reference work catalogues more than 11,500 species of plant found in South Africa. Volume 4 appeared in two parts, the first comprising sections published between 1905 and 1909, covering Vacciniaceae to Gentianeae.

Flora Capensis
  • Being a Systematic Description of the Plants of the Cape Colony, Caffraria and Port Natal, and Neighbouring Territories
  • Volume 2, Leguminosae to Loranthaceae
  • William H. Harvey, Otto Wilhelm Sonder
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
  • This seminal publication began life as a collaborative effort between the Irish botanist William Henry Harvey (1811–66) and his German counterpart Otto Wilhelm Sonder (1812–81). Relying on many contributors of specimens and descriptions from colonial South Africa - and building on the foundations laid by Carl Peter Thunberg, whose Flora Capensis (1823) is also reissued in this series - they published the first three volumes between 1860 and 1865. These were reprinted unchanged in 1894, and from 1896 the project was supervised by William Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. A final supplement appeared in 1933. Reissued now in ten parts, this significant reference work catalogues more than 11,500 species of plant found in South Africa. Containing the remaining polypetalous orders of the Calyciflorae, Volume 2 covers Leguminosae to Loranthaceae.

Flora Capensis
  • Being a Systematic Description of the Plants of the Cape Colony, Caffraria and Port Natal, and Neighbouring Territories
  • Volume 3, Rubiaceae to Campanulaceae
  • William H. Harvey, Otto Wilhelm Sonder
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
  • This seminal publication began life as a collaborative effort between the Irish botanist William Henry Harvey (1811–66) and his German counterpart Otto Wilhelm Sonder (1812–81). Relying on many contributors of specimens and descriptions from colonial South Africa - and building on the foundations laid by Carl Peter Thunberg, whose Flora Capensis (1823) is also reissued in this series - they published the first three volumes between 1860 and 1865. These were reprinted unchanged in 1894, and from 1896 the project was supervised by William Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. A final supplement appeared in 1933. Reissued now in ten parts, this significant reference work catalogues more than 11,500 species of plant found in South Africa. Containing orders of the Calyciflorae with a monopetalous corolla and an inferior ovary, Volume 3 covers Rubiaceae to Campanulaceae.

Flora Capensis
  • Being a Systematic Description of the Plants of the Cape Colony, Caffraria and Port Natal, and Neighbouring Territories
  • Volume 6, Haemodoraceae to Liliaceae
  • Edited by William T. Thiselton-Dyer
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
  • This seminal publication began life as a collaborative effort between the Irish botanist William Henry Harvey (1811–66) and his German counterpart Otto Wilhelm Sonder (1812–81). Relying on many contributors of specimens and descriptions from colonial South Africa - and building on the foundations laid by Carl Peter Thunberg, whose Flora Capensis (1823) is also reissued in this series - they published the first three volumes between 1860 and 1865. These were reprinted unchanged in 1894, and from 1896 the project was supervised by William Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. A final supplement appeared in 1933. Reissued now in ten parts, this significant reference work catalogues more than 11,500 species of plant found in South Africa. Volume 6 comprises sections that were published individually between 1896 and 1897, covering Haemodoraceae to Liliaceae.

Flora Capensis
  • Being a Systematic Description of the Plants of the Cape Colony, Caffraria and Port Natal, and Neighbouring Territories
  • Volume 5, Hydrocharideae to Scitamineae, Part 3
  • Edited by William T. Thiselton-Dyer
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
  • This seminal publication began life as a collaborative effort between the Irish botanist William Henry Harvey (1811–66) and his German counterpart Otto Wilhelm Sonder (1812–81). Relying on many contributors of specimens and descriptions from colonial South Africa - and building on the foundations laid by Carl Peter Thunberg, whose Flora Capensis (1823) is also reissued in this series - they published the first three volumes between 1860 and 1865. These were reprinted unchanged in 1894, and from 1896 the project was supervised by William Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. A final supplement appeared in 1933. Reissued now in ten parts, this significant reference work catalogues more than 11,500 species of plant found in South Africa. Volume 5 appeared in three parts, the third comprising sections published between 1912 and 1913, covering Hydrocharideae to Scitamineae.

Flora Capensis
  • Being a Systematic Description of the Plants of the Cape Colony, Caffraria and Port Natal, and Neighbouring Territories
  • Volume 4, Hydrophyllaceae to Pedalineae, Part 2
  • Edited by William T. Thiselton-Dyer
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
  • This seminal publication began life as a collaborative effort between the Irish botanist William Henry Harvey (1811–66) and his German counterpart Otto Wilhelm Sonder (1812–81). Relying on many contributors of specimens and descriptions from colonial South Africa - and building on the foundations laid by Carl Peter Thunberg, whose Flora Capensis (1823) is also reissued in this series - they published the first three volumes between 1860 and 1865. These were reprinted unchanged in 1894, and from 1896 the project was supervised by William Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928), director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. A final supplement appeared in 1933. Reissued now in ten parts, this significant reference work catalogues more than 11,500 species of plant found in South Africa. Volume 4 appeared in two parts, the second comprising sections published in 1904, covering Hydrophyllaceae to Pedalineae.

The Suburban Gardener, and Villa Companion
  • John Claudius Loudon
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 April 2014
    First published in:
    1838
  • The Scottish landscape gardener and prolific horticultural writer John Claudius Loudon (1783–1843) published this guide to suburban living in 1838. The book is intended to provide instruction on choosing a house or 'villa' (or the site on which to build one); on the furnishing of the house; and on the laying out, planting and general management of the garden and grounds. Loudon had also planned a section on horticulture, but was forced to postpone this to a separate volume, which was never written. Like most of Loudon's books (several of which have been reissued in this series), the work is detailed and didactic: for example, the precise construction of chimneys is discussed, with reference to the various existing styles and the pros and cons, aesthetic and functional, of each. Offering insights into the practical and social aspirations of the emerging middle classes, the book also contains numerous engravings.

A Selection of the Correspondence of Linnaeus, and Other Naturalists
  • From the Original Manuscripts
  • Volume 2
  • Edited by James Edward Smith
  • Published online:
    05 December 2014
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
  • After the death of the younger Carl Linnaeus in 1783, the entirety of the Linnean collections, including the letters received by the elder Linnaeus from naturalists all over Europe, was purchased by the English botanist James Edward Smith (1759–1828), later co-founder and first president of the Linnean Society of London. In 1821, Smith published this two-volume selection of the letters exchanged by Linnaeus père et fils and many of the leading figures in the study of natural history, revealing some of the close ties of shared knowledge and affection that bound the European scientific community at that time. Where necessary, Smith translates the letters into English, with the exception of those written in French, which are presented in the original. The varied correspondents of Linnaeus senior, whose letters appear in Volume 2, include the botanists Johann Dillenius and Bernard de Jussieu, and the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Page 3 of 12