Lot 576: HILL, Sir John (1716?-1775). Eden: or, a compleat body of gardening. London: for T.

HILL, Sir John (1716?-1775). Eden: or, a compleat body of gardening. London: for T. Osborne, T. Trye, S. Crowder & Co., and H. Woodgate, [1756-]1757.

2 o (418 x 256 mm). Engraved frontispiece by Charles Grignon after Samuel Wale, 2pp. letterpress dedication to the Earl of Bute, 60 engraved plates printed in black. (Slight creasing to frontispiece and title, some occasional pale spotting, generally very clean.) 19th-century diced russia gilt (front hinge cracked, inner hinges reinforced, some wear to extremities). Provenance: Fawsley (bookplate); Irene Osgood (signature on title).

FIRST EDITION. The work, intended as a companion to the Compleat Body of Husbandry (London, 1756), was designed along very unusual lines for the period: each weekly part includes information on what should be done in the garden during the following week together with descriptions of the plants that should be at their peak at that time. In the introduction the author's intentions are made plain: "We shall treat Gardens from their Origin, Design, and first Construction, to the raising them to Perfection, and keeping them in that condition; and we shall consider, in our Course, their Products, whether of Use, Curiosity, or Beauty. These we shall describe in their several Seasons, suiting our Publications to the Time of their Appearance.'"Henrey III.776; Hunt 559; Nissen BBI 880; cf. Tongiorgi Tomasi, An Oak Spring Flora 53.