love
Pressed Flowers Album
This beautiful book of pressed flowers was compiled by newlyweds Ralph L. and Hetty G. Dixon, who collected the majority of the specimens along the banks of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath in Georgetown in the 1920s. Although the Dixons were amateurs, they took great care in the mounting and identification of their blooms, and it is thanks to this that most of the specimens remain intact. But the love story contained within these pages isn’t the only golden thing about the book; the locally collected flowers include golden corydalis and golden ragwort.
Loves Garland: or Posies for Rings, Hand-kerchers, & Gloves
They say every book tells a story, and this one does not disappoint. Loves Garland, or Posies for Rings…contains a selection of posies, or love poems, that could be inscribed onto gold rings and given to a friend or lover as a testament of one’s affection. This edition of Loves Garland, published in 1883, is a reprint of a 1674 edition, which in turn is a reprint of the original 1624 edition.
America's Tribute.
Chrysanthemum Culture for America
In 19th century America, as the middle class grew, more people had time to garden for pleasure. That is when books on flower gardening became popular. Chrysanthemum Culture for America (1891) by James Morton was one of the earliest American publications on the history and care of chrysanthemums. At the time, the famous horticulturist Liberty Hyde Bailey considered it the best book “written by an American” on the flower.
The Rose Book
This elegantly illustrated book has eight direct color photographs and 64 half tone plates depicting roses and rose gardens. The author, Harry Higgott Thomas (1876-1956), started out with a career in banking but switched his focus and went to study at Kew Gardens and became one of the best known names in garden writing. The< color photographs are by Henry Essenhigh Corke who combined his botany knowledge with the family photography business to become a pioneering photographer of plants.
George and Gilbert, the Living Sculptors, London
Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore met as art students in London in 1967 and since then they have been partners both in life and in art. The presented themselves as "living sculptures" - they made themselves into sculpture and presented themselves as Gilbert and George.
Matrimonial ladder: or Such things are
A wonderfully illustrated and "wise" little volume about the ups and downs of marriage. Both the text, which was written in verse, and the illustrations were etched on metal plates, printed, and then hand-colored. The content is summarized on the title page and it may well speak to those being tried by love: "So they ripe, and ripe! / And rot, and rot! / And hereby hangs a tail!! / 'Tis true, 'tis pity / And pity 'tis, 'tis true!!!".
Marriage : Its History and Ceremonies
A mid-nineteenth century illustrated book about the functions and qualifications for happy marriages. A very popular pseudo-science at the time this book was written, phrenology constitutes the foundation of the discussion. Phrenology drew connections between the shape of the human skull and personality traits. These methods are in varied ways used in this work which also focuses on psychological approaches to describing happy or unhappy marriages.
