(LE LECTIER).   CATALOGUE DES ARBRES CULTIVEZ DANS LE VERGER ET PLAN DU SIEUR LE LECTIER PROCUREUR DU ROY A ORLEANS.         (Maidstone): Privately Printed, n.d. (ca.   1915).          No. 3 of 100 copies. A reprint of a rare catalogue of fruit trees originally published in France in 1628. Its compiler, Le Lectier, was the procurer for Louis XIII at Orleans. He "collected and grew fruits of all kinds, but, above all, pears. Le Lectier stimulated such interest in pears that their culture became a craze and everyone began planting them and collecting different varieties. Le Lectier started his collection in 1598, and in 1628 circulated a catalogue of his varieties with the request that anyone who had ones not in his collection would supply grafts to him... From Le Lectier's time fruit growing in France occupied a place of major importance, especially with the king and court." (Roach. CULTIVATED FRUITS OF BRITAIN, p. 129). This Maidstone reprinting of the catalogue is itself uncommon, with only 4 copies recorded in OCLC. This copy bears a presentation inscription from the noted English pomologist E.A. Bunyard, who almost certainly was responsible for the book's publication, to U. P. Hedrick, the notable American horticultural historian and authority on fruits.   24mo (14.5 x 11 cm); (I) + 35 pp.            Original half-morocco with floral paper over boards. $380.00

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