Ellen Ann Willmott | The genus rosa, London, 1914, 2 vols, original roan backed cloth

Ellen Ann Willmott

The genus rosa. London: John Murray, 1914

FIRST EDITION, 2 volumes, folio (380 x 275mm.), 132 chromolithographed plates, 15 plain, full-page illustrations, all after Alfred Parsons, original roan-backed cloth, wrappers for original parts bound in at end, top edge gilt, others uncut

A FINE COPY. "The first great colour-printed book of the twentieth century... it still stands unrivalled, both as an account of the species and as a source of illustrations of wild roses" (Rix, The Art of the Botanist, 1981).

Willmott (1858-1934) was a noted horticulturalist, serving as a influential member of the Royal Horticultural Society, one of the first two women to be admitted into the Linnaean Society, and was the first recipient of the Victoria Medal of Honour for British horticulturists in 1897. She was said to have cultivated over 100,000 plants in her garden, and served as a sponsor for botanical expeditions as far ranging as China and the Middle East. At one time employing no less than eighty-five gardeners at her home Warley Place, Essex, more than sixty plants have been named after her home or herself. She was involved in manifold professional horticultural projects throughout her life, and published two books, Warley Garden in Spring and The Genus Rosa, which at its initial publication only sold 260 copies, leaving her with debt that plagued her until her death. 

LITERATURE:

Nissen BBI 2166; Stafleu TL2 17.875