This botanical text is the third book to be written dedicated to the Rose, with ‘A Collection of Roses from Nature’ (1799) by Mary Lawrence and ‘Roses: or a monograph of the Genus Rosa being numbers one and two respectively. The artwork and the text are both the work of John Lindley (1799-1865) and it was published by James Ridgway of London.
The 1820 edition and the 1830 edition are both in the library but are in rather a sorry state which is perhaps not surprising as one is over 200 years old and the other not far off the 200 years.
Lindley was an erudite botanist who worked tirelessly to clarify the species roses and these texts feature the roses which he felt were species roses separating them from those that had become hybridised. His work did not only involve roses; he was very keen on orchids and other flowers. Lindley was appointed assistant secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and its new garden at Chiswick in 1822 and became professor of Botany at University College London in 1829. His achievements were many and now he is remembered through the RHS Lindley Library, a place which helps us with our horticultural research.
Illustration from the 1820 text.
The 1820 text with an illustration from the 1830 edition.