HOGG, ROBERT, & BULL, HENRY GRAVES The Herefordshire Pomona. Hereford: Jakeman & Carver, 1876- 1885
4to (38.1 x 28.5 cm). 1st edition. Elegant full pebbled green morocco by Rievere & Son. Raised bands and gilt decorative panels; gilt title and volume information on separate panels. Dentelle gilt border on outer and inner boards. Internal condition very good with minor foxing on tissue guards and occasional edge browning. Collation: Vol. 1 [10] xix, 160 [5] p. + 4 plain and 1 chromolithographic plate; Vol. 2. [5] + 76 chromolithographic plates and accompanying un-numbered text pages [30] p.
The important history of this work has been documented by the Marcher Apple Network: “During the last quarter of the nineteenth century there was, Great interest in Herefordshire and in the surrounding counties in the conservation of old apple and pear varieties…Efforts were made to restock the orchards with 'the most esteemed kinds of British apples and pears'. A detailed compilation was made over a period of about ten years, by the Pomona Committee of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club of Hereford, of all the notable varieties of apples and pears at that time being grown in Herefordshire orchards. Year by year the Club held apple and pear exhibitions, and the most experienced and distinguished pomologist in the country were invited to inspect the samples of fruit submitted and check their identification. Among these distinguished gentlemen was Dr Robert Hogg, Vice-President of the Royal Horticultural Society, author of The Fruit Manual, a work of immense scholarship, and editor of the RHS Journal. Hogg's enthusiasm found a ready response in Dr Henry Graves Bull, Physician to Hereford Infirmary and past President and a leading member of the Woolhope Club. Between them they compiled, wrote and co-edited The Herefordshire Pomona. They were fortunate in being able to call upon the services of two talented artists, Miss Alice Blanche Ellis, and Bull's own daughter, Edith Elizabeth. Each year, for some eight years, Miss Ellis and Miss Bull painted the apples from the autumn exhibitions, so creating the art work for the Pomona. Hogg wrote the letterpress descriptions and Bull drew the fruit sections, co-ordinated the work and did the copyediting. The book was financed by subscription by the nobility and the gentry of Herefordshire and neighbouring counties. The Pomona was issued in seven parts, at fifteen shillings for Part 1 in 1878 and twenty-one shillings for each of the remaining parts. When all seven parts were finished, they were bound together to form The Herefordshire Pomona we know today. Six hundred copies were printed with no expense spared. They are now scarce and highly sought after…” (Nissen 194; Bunyard p. 435)
$US25000
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