Beschrijving
Contemporary marbled calf leatehr, gilt lettering and ornaments. 8o: 3 vols., pag.: (vol. 1) [1] xxxix 249; (vol. 2) vi 326; (vol. 3) ii 335. With 16 folding plates after the original plates by J. van der Spyk, F. van Bleyswyck, J. Wandelaar and J.C. Philips. Fine set of this rare French translation by De Groot of this highly important horticultural treatise by the Dutch cloth merchant, art patron, and ‘first garden theorist of the Netherlands’ Pieter de la Court (1664-1739), His estate ‘Meerburg’ was situated near Leiden. The first Dutch edition of the book was published in 1737. It contains details of the laying out and planting of small Dutch pleasure gardens, stressing the importance of water, proportional harmony and careful consideration for site. De la Court emphasizes natural features above artful device, and the blending of the garden into the landscape, with the occasional consciously placed ‘romantic element’. J.C. Loudon writes in his ‘Encyclopaedia of Gardening’ (1827) that the work is ‘little known […] among the best that have been produced’. The work contains information on the development of glasshouses and heating methods. The large engravings depict glasshouses, 5 fine plates of citrus fruit, and 2 further plates of citrus fruit and the magnificent pineapple and tuberose.B0136.