The Orchid-Grower's Manual (1852, first edition)
Benjamin Samuel Williams's first book, 'containing a Brief Description of Upwards of Two Hundred and Sixty Orchidaceous Plants'
Author
Publisher
Printing Details
First edition. Hardback, half-leather binding, marbled paper covered boards, and marbled page edges. 19.5 × 12.5cm, 108pp. Colour frontispiece.
Benjamin Samuel Williams (1824–1891) was a distinguished orchidologist. The Orchid-Grower's Manual was his first book and became a popular mid-Victorian gardening title as it transformed orchid growing from a secretive art into a structured science.
An introductory section details such things as mode of potting, water, materials, orchid houses, ventilation, glazing, removal of plants in flowers, insects, diseases, propagation, etc, pages 25–99 is an alphabetical listing of types of orchids from Acineta to Zygopetalum, with description, and a final few pages on variegated orchids, and an index.
Condition
The leather is rather rubbed and scuffed to the joints and corners, with a small amount of loss to the title label to the spine. The contents are in very good condition for age, with some marginal ticks by a previous owner but remaining in strong readable condition.
Books are currently zero-rated for duty (as of April 2026), so the price shown is the price you pay.
Price
£80.00
