This Brussels edition of what was the most popular pomological manual of the early 18th century is of particular interest because it includes, as an appendix, a reprint of the catalogue of fruit trees available from the nurseries of the Carthusian monks of Paris. During the 18th century the Pères Chartreux operated what was easily the largest nursery in Europe and supplied orchards across the continent with the best proven varieties of fruit. François Gentil, the anonymous author of LE JARDINIER SOLITAIRE, was a Carthusian lay brother who ran the nurseries for 30 years. His book was first published by Rigaud in 1704 and went through numerous French editions in addition to popular translations into English and German. The present edition appears to be based on the significantly enlarged fourth edition, which first appeared in Paris in 1712. However, none of the numerous editions published in Paris includes the nursery catalogue which is present here. The Chartreux in Paris are known to have issued at least five such catalogues before their dissolution during the French Revolution. The earliest of these that we can trace is dated 1736, and it is probably the text from this catalogue which has been reproduced here. (Fricx published an earlier edition of LE JARDINIER SOLITAIRE in 1737 which also includes a Chartreux catalogue. The present edition is in all likelihood a reprint of that text). These catalogues, all of which are rare, represent important documentation on the available fruit varieties in Europe during the 18th century. They also included notes on the characteristics and seasons for each fruit, and would have been an extremely useful reference for the fruit growers of the period. It is thus understandable that Fricx would have recognized the value of using the text from the 1736 catalogue - the most reliable description of fruit varieties of its day - as an addition to his own reprint of Gentil. We can locate no other editions of Gentil, besides the two Brussels editions of 1737 and 1749, which include a Chartreux catalogue. Plesch pg. 235 (1773 ed.).

A delightfully illustrated catalogue of pears available from Van Houtte, a prominent Belgian nurseryman. Van Houtte was also noted as a printer and a publisher. He built a printing plant at his nursery in the 1840s and also published the FLORE DES SERRES ET DES JARDINS DE L'EUROPE from 1845 to 1880. Van Houtte used his presses to produce the fine chromolithographed plates which illustrate this catalogue of the pears available from his firm. 431 varieties are listed and described, 122 of which are illustrated in 16 oblong color plates. An additional 36 varieties are shown in outline on 6 black and white plates. Although the original cover title for this copy suggests this is the first fascicule in a larger work, “POMONE/ 1/ NOS POIRES./ 1.er Fascicule.”, we find no evidence of such a work being continued. Rather, this collection of illustrations and descriptions became something of a trade catalogue for the firm as much as an informed catalogue of currently superior pears. Some years ago we sold a copy without this printed cover title and with text beginning on page 5, without the preliminary title page and 2 page introduction present in this copy. The work is very scarce: we locate only 2 copies in OCLC, both in Switzerland ( University of Bern and the Conservatorie Et Jardin Botanique Ville de Genève), of which the Bern copy is dated 1890. With 16 Large Chromolithographed Plates Of Pears

Maund was a pharmacist, botanist and bookseller who was most noted as the publisher of several botanical periodicals with colored plates, the most famous of which, THE BOTANIC GARDEN, began in 1825. The FRUITIST appeared as a sequel to that series, although the format of its illustrations differed from the earlier flower plates by presenting a single subject per page instead of four. These delicately hand-colored wood engravings depict a variety of fruits placed above their printed descriptions and framed within an elaborate printed border. Included are 34 apples, 24 pears, 6 plums, 3 gooseberries and 7 other fruits. In the present volume the fruits have been grouped by type, with varieties placed in alphabetical order, rather than in the random order in which they were originally received by subscribers.