BEAUTIES AND WONDERS OF VEGETABLE LIFE (Or, Rambles in Parks, Forests, Conservatories, Orchards, Gardens, Fields, And Heaths)

 Religious Tract Society

 Crown 8to, Hb, red cloth boards, 280 pages, n/d, possibly mid – late 1880s.

 An ancient and rare survivor, the book deals with the natural history of many trees and plants, giving the history, origins and uses, accompanied by a profuse number of drawings, some very detailed. Whilst obviously containing religious references the text doesn’t preach excessively but is informative of its subject matter and contains some fascinating information on each topic dealt with. This will be of interest not only to botanists but anyone interested in the history and origins of plants, especially trees and their fruit.

 The covers are faded and worn, although something of the former splendour of the embossed vignette surround on the front cover can still be appreciated and the gold blocking of the centrepiece motif is still discernible. Above this is the shadow imprint of two words, possibly where someone has written something whilst using the book to lean on. The spine has a minor split at the base and the spine cover has a split at the top rear, approximately 1cm, and at the bottom rear edge for around 5 cm. The pages are still well bound, there is light and (very) limited foxing to the top of a few, perhaps a trace image of a pressed leaf inbetween two of them.  There is a very old, mauve coloured shield stamp on the inside rear cover, and a pencilled name inside the front cover. Although there is the wear that age brings the book has also been looked after and with a little care will last for many years to come.

The whole book is charmingly written and presented in a style which, sadly, cannot be duplicated today. At the end of the book are several pages containing a bibliography of other productions by the Society. The Religious Tract Society was founded in 1799 and in 1935 merged with the Christian Literature Society for India and Africa to form the United Society for Christian Literature