[Rarebooks] FS: THE FIRST EDITION WITH COLORED PLATES of the most important and influential book on pomology published in America, 1847

[Charles Agvent]

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DOWNING, A[ndrew] J[ackson]. THE FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES OF AMERICA; OR, 
THE CULTURE, PROPAGATION, AND MANAGEMENT, IN THE GARDEN AND ORCHARD, OF 
FRUIT TREES GENERALLY; WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE FINEST VARIETIES OF 
FRUIT, NATIVE AND FOREIGN, CULTIVATED IN THIS COUNTRY. New York & 
London: Wiley and Putnam, 1847. First Edition. Quarto in 6s (6" x 
9-3-8") bound in recent dark brown calf leather-backed marbled boards 
with burgundy and green morocco spine labels, lettered and decorated in 
gilt on the spine; xiv, 594 pages: lacks 8 text pages (103-106 and 
135-138). Illustrated with 65 hand-colored lithograph plates by 
Lemercier of Paris and over 200 wood-engraved illustrations in the text. 
THE FIRST EDITION WITH COLORED PLATES of the most important and 
influential book on pomology published in America. First published in 
1845, the book went through some 20 editions until 1900. All of the 
early editions are rare, and only two, published in 1847 and 1850, 
contain color plates and are also printed on larger paper. The plates 
were colored by hand and finished by Lemercier of Paris from drawings 
made in America. The text makes no reference to these exquisite color 
plates of apples, pears, cherries, plums, berries, and other fruits, and 
as Plesch (page 219) says, they "seem to have crept into the volume by 
stealth." It has been supposed that there was no fixed edition; perhaps 
copies were put together as the demand warranted, and as a result the 
plate count varies from copy to copy. Both the Plesch and the Bennett 
(page 35) copies, for example, had 69 plates, though both were the later 
1850 edition. The only other copy currently on the market contains 67 
plates. The text is foxed throughout, heaviest to the title page and 
less so to the color plates, two of which have tears (not in the image) 
repaired from the back with archival tape. A few small areas of loss of 
color but nothing significant. In spite of its faults, a rare, 
beautiful, and desirable book in a Fine binding. (#016956)        $7,500.00

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CHARLES AGVENT

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