A masterpiece of pomology
Excerpt from the book 'Pomona Britannica' by George Brookshaw.
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Some varieties among the impressive number of fruit illustrations are hardly distinguishable from one another. Even the leaves and blossoms are sometimes so bewilderingly similar that they would confuse anyone trying to compare them. In order for readers to derive the full benefit of the available pomological knowledge, each illustration was preceded by a description of the individual varieties depicted. The associated text outlines characteristics that cannot be illustrated, such as the flavour of the pulp and preferred uses of the fruits.
An index fills the last pages of the work, allowing quick reference or targeted searches from among all the illustrated varieties: from A as in "Antwerp White Raspberry" to W as in "Winter Swan's Egg Pear". Reading the descriptions and looking at the illustrations, a modern user will surely experience the same delight and the same overwhelming sense of nature's abundance as Brookshaw's contemporaries. But a parting glance at the list of varieties is a sobering reminder of the drastic reduction in the number of cultivars over the course of almost two centuries, mostly for economic reasons. One more excuse to while in Brookshaw's lost paradise of fruits.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Some varieties among the impressive number of fruit illustrations are hardly distinguishable from one another. Even the leaves and blossoms are sometimes so bewilderingly similar that they would confuse anyone trying to compare them. In order for readers to derive the full benefit of the available pomological knowledge, each illustration was preceded by a description of the individual varieties depicted. The associated text outlines characteristics that cannot be illustrated, such as the flavour of the pulp and preferred uses of the fruits.
An index fills the last pages of the work, allowing quick reference or targeted searches from among all the illustrated varieties: from A as in "Antwerp White Raspberry" to W as in "Winter Swan's Egg Pear". Reading the descriptions and looking at the illustrations, a modern user will surely experience the same delight and the same overwhelming sense of nature's abundance as Brookshaw's contemporaries. But a parting glance at the list of varieties is a sobering reminder of the drastic reduction in the number of cultivars over the course of almost two centuries, mostly for economic reasons. One more excuse to while in Brookshaw's lost paradise of fruits.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Eight apple varieties. Unknown artist, copperplate engraving, subsequently coloured, from J.H. Knoop's Pomologia