The Elements of Botany: Containing The History of the Science: With Accurate Definitions of all the Terms of Art, exemplified in Eleven Copper-Plates; The Theory of Vegetables; The scientific Arrangement of Plants, and Names used in Botany. To which is added, An Appendix, Wherein are described some Plants lately found in Norfolk and Suffolk, illustrated with three additional Copper-Plates, all taken from the Life.

(Linnaeus.) ROSE (Hugh)

Published by T. Cadell. and M. Hingeston, 1775

FIRST EDITION, 14 engraved plates, occasional spotting, pp. xii, 472, [14 plate leaves interspersed], 8vo contemporary calf, spine with raised bands and faded label, text block fore-edge with ink mark at upper edge, board edges and joints slightly rubbed, good. An influential translation of Linnaeus by Hugh Rose, a Norwich apothecary, which, in several sections, adds credence to William Smellie's assertion (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1773) that 'obscenity is the very basis of the Linnean system': Rose describes the filaments as 'spermatic vessels', the antherae as testicles, the style as the virgina, though his treatment of 'The Nuptials of Plants'' section reverts to a more figurative approach:'The calyx then is the marriage bed. The corolla, or petals, are the curtains.' Sir James Smith, founder of the Linnaen Society, acknowledged the influence of Rose on his early development. (The Poetry of Erasmas Darwin, Priestman, 2016) (ESTC T113524). Seller Inventory # 71519

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Elements of Botany: Containing The ...
Publisher: T. Cadell. and M. Hingeston
Publication Date: 1775