SWITZER, Stephen.   THE PRACTICAL FRUIT-GARDENER.   Being The Newest And Best Method Of Raising, Planting, And Pruning, All Sorts of FRUIT-TREES, Agreeably To the Experience And Practice Of The Most Eminent Gardeners And Nurserymen.    London: for Joseph Johnson,   1763.          "The second edition. To which are added, three new plans, and other large additions." This is the final edition of the first British manual on fruit cultivation to incorporate the major advances of eighteenth century commercial nursery practice. Switzer trained under London and Wise at the Brompton nursery and had a varied career as both a nurseryman and as a gardener to aristocratic patrons. Prior to Switzer, the most reliable English books on pomology were either the works of amateurs (notably John Laurence), or translations from the French. "The works of Laurence had a great popularity, but they were overshadowed by the excellent book of Stephen Switzer, whose 'Practical Fruit Gardener' was published in 1724. In this the whole range of fruit culture is treated in a terse and clear style, and on every page it bears witness to a practical knowledge which was not too common in writers of those days... His book must be given a very important place in British fruit literature, and some writers have even gone so far as to consider it the first book on fruit culture of any value." (Bunyard. A GUIDE TO THE LITERATURE OF POMOLOGY, pg. 421) Among the additions to the second edition (which first appeared in 1731) are 3 new plates added to the 3 found in the first edition. These six folding plates include four garden plans, a plan for a glass house and illustrations for the techniques of espalier fruit cultivation on walls.   8vo (19 x 12 cm); (xxx) + 363 + (13) pp. + 6 folding copper-engraved plates. Leaf b8 (pages xxxi-xxxii), which would have included a bookseller's advertisement, is not present here. It is also lacking from the only other copy of this edition we have examined.   Henrey 1416; Oak Spring Pomona 22 (1731 edition); Johnston/Cleveland 371 (1731 edition).          Original calf rebacked in calf with gilt ruled raised bands and read leather lettering piece, spine panels blind-stamped. Bookplate of Lord Battersea; scattered foxing most noticeable on preliminary pages. $1,250.00

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