Gardener’s Magazine
The Gardener’s Magazine and register of rural & domestic improvement. Conducted by J.C.Loudon.
London, Longman 1826-30.
Full Description
8vo. Vols 1-6 (First Series). viii +486pp, (4)pp adverts; x + 502pp, (4)pp adverts; viii + 504pp, 1 hand-coloured litho plate, (28)pp adverts; viii + 548pp, (40)pp adverts; viii + 764pp; viii + 760pp. Vols 1-4 and 6 are uniformly bound in contemporary quarter green calf, marbled boards (bound by George May, Evesham, with his printed ticket), with the gilt-stamped crest and monogram of Edward Rudge at the head of each spine. Vol.5 is bound in contemporary quarter calf, marbled boards (first four leaves dampstained, but otherwise in good, clean condition), and has the contemporary ink ownership inscription of George Compton.
The first six volumes of Loudon’s Gardener’s Magazine, the first periodical devoted exclusively to garden subjects. A quarterly for its first year, it was subsequently issued every two months (and was eventually to become a monthly). Each issue includes articles on garden topics, many of which were written by Loudon himself, and an extensive body of gardening news, hints and queries, as well as many woodcut text illustrations and ground plans. The periodical covers garden design, garden architecture and garden technology as well as planting and propagation, and it is a mine of information on every aspect of the subject (Loudon’s descriptions of visits made by him to English country houses with surrounding gardens and parkland are of particular interest). The periodical continued to be issued until Loudon’s death in 1843. Five of the six volumes in the present run are in particularly pleasing, fresh condition, and derive from the fine specialist library of books on botanical subjects assembled by Edward Rudge FRS FSA (1763-1846), of The Abbey Manor House, Evesham, Worcestershire.