United States
£ GBP
A Most Unusual Edition
This edition began life in the early 1990s nearly a quarter of a century ago. Dr. Helen Brock having completed a paper on the Guernsey Lily, submitted it to her publisher, whose editor suggested a facsimile copy of Douglas’ original manuscript be published alongside it. Rosemary de Sausmarez who had helped Dr Brock’s researches lent her family’s excellent 1737 copy of Douglas’ Guernsey Lilly to the project. Sadly the publisher was taken ill and although the work continued and was proofed and printed, it was never finally published, languishing unbound for over 20 years. The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership are delighted to have been able to resurrect the project and can now offer a limited edition of just 185 copies, to be sold strictly on a first come first served basis.
The 2012 Edition
A full and complete facsimile of Douglas’ original 1737 edition based on the typesetting of the amended edition of the Guernsey Lilly of 1727, complete with all 3 fold out illustrations. Quarter bound in chocolate calf with a hand marbled, lily design, cover paper speckled with a gold sheen. A new treatise and bibliography in a companion volume by Dr. Helen Brock, examining the history, cultivation and physiology of Nerine sarniensis, bound in pink book cloth, embossed in white with a Guernsey Lily design. The two volumes are presented together in a chocolate cloth covered slipcase, also featuring the lily design.
Douglas’ Guernsey Lilly
Douglas’ Guernsey Lilly, published in 1725 was the first work devoted to a single ornamental bulbous species. Originally twinned with a treatise on the coffee bean, it was enlarged and much altered, and reprinted in 1727, focusing solely on the lily. The facsimile in this edition is based on the 1737 edition, which was itself printed from the same typesetting as the 1727 edition. The edition, lent by Rosemary de Sausmarez from the Sausmarez Manor library, was in excellent condition and has enabled the creation of this stunning copy.
The Companion Volume
Dr. Helen Brock has created a scholarly work, scouring the literature to produce a comprehensive account of the history and cultivation of the Guernsey Lily, which will delight all lovers of the lily. She examines the plant’s early history, its arrival into Europe and especially into Guernsey, its genus and notable characteristics and its culture, as well as its botany and all the key figures in its history. A keen scholar of the great Scottish doctor William Hunter, one of the great collectors of his age. Dr. Brock had access to Hunter’s papers which contain a large collection of Douglas’ own papers, including a great number of records of Douglas’ observations on the Guernsey Lilly and these amplify his published work on the plant.
