The number of books in the Rosarian Library continues to increase. I am continually searching for new titles, especially those that are reasonably priced. Fortunately the majority of books in the library have been purchased second hand at good value prices. A small number of new books, published this year, have been bought but most of the books are not new but are in remarkably good condition. There is a point, however, when their age makes them valuable and more difficult to find. Thus titles published before 1900 are usually expensive. There are many titles I covet but these will have to be collected gradually.
Knowing the literature available is important and until now I have compiled a ‘wanted’ book list from the bibliographies of works that I have read. Suddenly this wanted list has become catastrophically long, challenging and expensive as a result of a much sought after gift from one of my children; the title above.
This work and it must have been hard work compiling it, lists all the books about roses including all aspects of horticulture such as propagation, growth, display and pest and disease control. It includes books about rose history, botany, industry, symbolism, poetry, art and literature. It includes books in the major languages of Western and Eastern Europe and Asia. It is a book I will use regularly not only to identify titles but also to keep a record of titles in the library. (Thank you very much Susannah).
So part of my work has been done for me but it has made me realise that I must set some boundaries for the Rosarian Library. I am yet unsure how I will do this. I cannot do it by language as the countries of Western Europe, particularly France, play a significant part in rose history and development. I do not want to limit the library to European titles as I already have a good number oif titles from North America and Australasia. Perhaps I should set a financial limit but that is not my nature. I already covet a pair of books which I know will cost several hundred pounds, that is if I can find them for sale! I could set a date boundary collecting only those since 1900 but I can see from the bibliography there are many publications between 1800 and 1900 and I so love old books! I expect the boundaries will be what I can find and what I think is a fair price.
This book was published in 1972. I wonder whether anyone is compiling a list of rose books published between then and now!