John Evelyn (1620–1706), intellectual, diarist, gardener and founder member of the Royal Society, is best known for his Diary, the great journal of his life and times, encompassing a momentous period in British history. A lifelong collector of books, like his contemporary Pepys, Evelyn amassed over 4,000 items in his library. This work, originally published in 1664, was the first English-language treatise on forestry. Intended for the gentry, it aimed to encourage tree-planting after the ravages of the Civil War and to ensure a supply of timber for Britain's fast-developing navy. The first work sponsored officially by the Royal Society, it was an offshoot of Evelyn's unpublished manuscript Elysium Britannicum, a compendium of gardens and gardening. This is the 1908 two-volume reprint of the fourth edition, published in the year of Evelyn's death.
Contents
Volume 1: Introduction; Books published by the author; Book I: 1. Of the earth, soil, seed, air, and water; 2. Of the seminary and of transplanting; 3. Of the oak; 4. Of the elm; 5. Of the beech; 6. Of the horn-beam; 7. Of the ash; 8. Of the chestnut; 9. Of the walnut; 10. Of the service, and black cherry-tree; 11. Of the maple; 12. Of the sycomor; 13. Of the lime-tree; 14. Of the poplar, aspen, and abele; 15. Of the quick-beam; 16. Of the hasel; 17. Of the birch; 18. Of the alder; 19. Of the withy, sallow, ozier, and willow; 20. Of fences, quick-sets, etc.; Book II: 1. Of the mulberry; 2. Of the platanus, lotus, cornus, acacia, etc.; 3. Of the fir, pine, pinaster, pitch-tree, larsh, and subterranean trees; 4. Of the cedar, juniper, cypress, savine, thuya, etc.; 5. Of the cork, ilex, alaternus, celastrus, ligustrum, philyrea, myrtil, lentiscus, olive, granade, syring, jasmine and other exoticks; 6. Of the arbutus, box, yew, holly, pyracinth, laurel, bay, etc.; 7. Of the infirmities of trees, etc. Volume 2: Book III: 1. Of copp'ces; 2. Of pruning; 3. Of the age, stature, and felling of trees; 4. Of timber, the seasoning and uses, and of fuel; 5. Aphorisms, or certain general precepts of use to the foregoing chapters; 6. Of the laws and statutes for the preservation and improvement of woods and forests; 7. The paraenesis and conclusion, containing some encouragements and proposals for the planting and improvement of his majesty's forests, and other amunities for shades, and ornament; Book IV: An historical account of the sacredness and use of standing groves, etc.; Renati Rapini Hortorum liber II.
Printer friendly version