Maps of 18th Century Gardens: Five Rare Books for Collectors
Daniel Crouch Rare Books
John Rocque’s Plan of The House, Gardens, Park & Hermitage of Their Majesties at Richmond; and of their R.H. the Prince of Wales & the Princes Royal at Kew
Highlights from Daniel Crouch Rare Books selection of beautifully engraved 18th century maps that chart the design and purpose of some of London’s most iconic gardens offered at this year's Firsts London (May 15–18) include:
* John Rocque’s Plan of The House, Gardens, Park & Hermitage of Their Majesties at Richmond; and of their R.H. the Prince of Wales & the Princes Royal at Kew, London, c1740. Engraved plan on two sheets, joined. There has been a garden at Kew since at least the early 17th century but it was Prince George with his wife Caroline who developed a garden and landscape park next to the river.
* John Haynes's An Accurate Survey of the Botanic Gardens at Chelsea..., London, 1753. Engraved plan with original hand-color, upper and side expertly remargined. Fine separately published plan of Chelsea Physic Gardens, during its Georgian heyday, richly decorated with a scene of Georgian ladies and gentlemen taking a stroll along the banks of the Thames, with river boats on the water. The plan provides a fascinating insight of the technologies for plant growing that were in use at the Garden in the 1750s.
* Robert Furber, Twelve Months of Flowers and Twelve Months of Fruit, London, 1732. A complete set of Furber’s celebrated Fruits and Flowers, 24 engravings with original hand-color and the rare subscriber’s list giving the names of those who contributed towards publication. Although both the Fruits and Flowers were conceived as selling catalogues for the produce of Furber’s nursery gardens near Hyde Park gate in Kensington, the overt commercialism was masked by the beauty and quality of the work. Pieter Casteels (1684-1749) from Antwerp designed the plates, which were then engraved by Henry Fletcher.
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Daniel Crouch Rare Books
John Haynes's An Accurate Survey of the Botanic Gardens at Chelsea
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Daniel Crouch Rare Books
Robert Furber, Twelve Months of Flowers
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Daniel Couch Rare Books
David Loggan's Oxonia Illustrata
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Daniel Crouch Rare Books
John Pine's A Plan of the Town and Castle of Windsor and Little-Park, Town and College of Eton
* David Loggan's Oxonia Illustrata, 1675. Oxford from above extra-illustrated with Richard Rallingson’s Ichnographia Oxoniae 1648 plan of the defences of Oxford during the civil war. Oxonia Illustrata was intended as a companion work to Historia Antiquitates Universitatis Oxoniensis by Anthony Wood with whom Loggan had become acquainted some years earlier.
* John Pine's A Plan of the Town and Castle of Windsor and Little-Park, Town and College of Eton, J. Pine Engraver in Old Bond Street & T. Bakewell Printseller in Fleet Street, 1742. Etching with engraving. The first state of a rare and charming map of Windsor showing Eton College. A note on the map itself explains that the design was never executed, but plans have been made to do so. The engraver, John Pine (1690-1756) was an important figure in 18th century British art who engraved John Rocque’s monumental map of London.
