Pomona Britannica,

Second edition, in smaller format than the first, of the finest English work on fruit; “one of the finest colour-plate books in existence” (Prideaux); this copy with an additional original watercolour of a pear in Brookshaw’s manner bound in at the end. Of Birmingham origins, George Brookshaw (1751–1823) developed a successful niche in London as a maker of almost exclusively painted furniture, attracting the patronage of the Prince of Wales. In the 1790s he abruptly abandoned this business, probably under the pressure of some sexual or financial scandal, and took to teaching flower-painting under an assumed name. The Pomona marks his emergence from that obscurity, first issued in parts from 1804 and as a single folio volume in 1812.

Large 4to. Late 19th-century green half morocco, spine with raised bands decoratively gilt, gilt lettered in two compartments, double gilt rules, gilt border at foot, marbled sides, endpapers and edges, inner hinges reinforced with pebble-grain cloth. Armorial bookplates of Richard Cust and Charles George Milnes Gaskell. 60 engraved plates by the author, partly printed in colour, partly coloured by hand; with an original hand-coloured drawing of a pear bound in at the end. One or two trivial marks, an excellent copy.