448

John Rea (1605-1681)

Flora: seu, De Florum Cultura. Or, a Complete Florilege, furnished with all Requisites Belonging to a Florist.

London: printed by T[homas] N[ewcomb] for George Marriott, 1676.
Second edition, folio, with added engraved title page and typographical title printed in red and black (both titles and first leaf of dedication with marginal modern paper repairs to versos); illustrated with 16 engraved garden plans on 8 leaves (final plate trimmed and pasted to verso of penultimate plate) and 3 elegant engraved headpieces of lavish floral arrangements (one at the head of each section) by Frederick Hendrik van den Hove; bound in near-contemporary full calf, rebacked and re-cornered; with bookplate of D. Barclay Squire inside front board, along with the blind stamp on front fly leaf of Lent D. and Marie R. Upson and an unidentified bookplate; "The Mind of the Front" trimmed and mounted; spotting and tears to contents; text leaf K2 with large repaired tear; 12 1/4 x 7 1/2 in.

Wing R-422; ESTC R15778.

John Rea (not to be confused with John Ray) left us with the best book on practical gardening to come out of England in the 17th century. Anyone interested in the modes and methods of the period when applied to beauty gardens with a special emphasis on the use of flowering bulbs will find much to love here. Rea flourished at the time of the Dutch tulip mania craze, and it shows. The largest section of his work is taken up with descriptions of valuable varieties to grow, with notes on colors, size, and blooming times. Regular garden flowers are treated next, followed by a section on fruit trees.

  • Condition: A-B4, c4, C-Q4, R2, S-Z4, Aa-Hh4, Ii-Ll2; 8 leaves of plates.

    Please contact us to request a condition report:
    Devon Eastland, Senior Specialist: [email protected]
    Grace Meschery-McCormack, Cataloguer: [email protected]


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April 23, 2026 10:30 AM EDT
New York, NY, US

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