SINCLAIR, George (1786-1834). Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis, or an account of the results of experiments on the produce and nutritive qualities of different grasses and other plants, used as the food of the more valuable domestic animals: instituted by John Duke of Bedford . London: printed by B. McMillan, 1816. 2° (477 x 285mm). 35 samples of seeds mounted on 14 leaves, 123 dried plant specimens mounted on blank numbered sheets, each with printed title-slips pasted in, with Latin and generic names. (Without the plan found in some copies, light offsetting of specimens onto text leaves, two heads of grasses detached and placed in gutter.) Contemporary calf gilt, the spine in seven compartments, titled in the second on a dark blue morocco lettering piece, the rest with tooled ornaments including birds, with metal clasps and catches, marbled endpapers (some light scuffing to extremities, unobtrusive stain to upper cover, minor wear to head of spine). Provenance : Beriah Botfield, acquired from Payne & Foss for £10.10.0 (P. & F. Acquisitions, p.83, also noting 'the plan of the garden at Woburn in a case'). FIRST EDITION, with actual specimens, of Sinclair's highly important catalogue of grasses and results of 'arguably the world's first ecological experiment'. Botanist and gardener to the Duke of Bedford, Sinclair was keen to improve knowledge on varieties of grasses and their cultivation, in order to benefit practical agriculture. He planted the garden at Woburn Abbey in the early 1800s, laying out 242 plots containing various soils and sowing different combinations of grasses and herbs. The experiment has recently been identified as that referred to by Darwin in his On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection (1859). Sinclair's findings have been cited as providing 'the intellectual link between biodiversity and ecosystem biology first made by Darwin' (A. Hector & R. Hooper, writing in Science , January 25 2002). The present work, containing the actual specimens grown by Sinclair, was 'printed for the Duke of Bedford, and distributed in presents by his Grace' (Payne & Foss). BM(NH) IV, 1931; Nissen BBI 1850 (citing 122 plates); Stafleu and Cowan 12022 (citing copies with 121 or 122 plates).
SINCLAIR, George (1786-1834). Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis, or an account of the results of experiments on the produce and nutritive qualities of different grasses and other plants, used as the food of the more valuable domestic animals: instituted by John Duke of Bedford . London: printed by B. McMillan, 1816. 2° (477 x 285mm). 35 samples of seeds mounted on 14 leaves, 123 dried plant specimens mounted on blank numbered sheets, each with printed title-slips pasted in, with Latin and generic names. (Without the plan found in some copies, light offsetting of specimens onto text leaves, two heads of grasses detached and placed in gutter.) Contemporary calf gilt, the spine in seven compartments, titled in the second on a dark blue morocco lettering piece, the rest with tooled ornaments including birds, with metal clasps and catches, marbled endpapers (some light scuffing to extremities, unobtrusive stain to upper cover, minor wear to head of spine). Provenance : Beriah Botfield, acquired from Payne & Foss for £10.10.0 (P. & F. Acquisitions, p.83, also noting 'the plan of the garden at Woburn in a case'). FIRST EDITION, with actual specimens, of Sinclair's highly important catalogue of grasses and results of 'arguably the world's first ecological experiment'. Botanist and gardener to the Duke of Bedford, Sinclair was keen to improve knowledge on varieties of grasses and their cultivation, in order to benefit practical agriculture. He planted the garden at Woburn Abbey in the early 1800s, laying out 242 plots containing various soils and sowing different combinations of grasses and herbs. The experiment has recently been identified as that referred to by Darwin in his On the Origin of Species by Natural Selection (1859). Sinclair's findings have been cited as providing 'the intellectual link between biodiversity and ecosystem biology first made by Darwin' (A. Hector & R. Hooper, writing in Science , January 25 2002). The present work, containing the actual specimens grown by Sinclair, was 'printed for the Duke of Bedford, and distributed in presents by his Grace' (Payne & Foss). BM(NH) IV, 1931; Nissen BBI 1850 (citing 122 plates); Stafleu and Cowan 12022 (citing copies with 121 or 122 plates).
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
