George Sinclair

Hortus gramineus Woburnensis: Or, an account of the results of experiments on the produce and nutritive qualities of different grasses and other plants, used as the food of the more valuable domestic animals: Instituted by John Duke of Bedford. London: B. M’Millan, 1816

FIRST EDITION, folio (480 x 285mm.), dedication, errata slip pasted in, numerous seed samples pasted in, 122 dried, pressed and mounted specimens of grass with letterpress overslips (a few pages left blank where no specimen was available), contemporary green straight-grained morocco gilt, covers with blind stamped centre-piece within gilt and blind panelling with large gilt cornerpieces and wide borders with greek key and grass motifs, spine densely gilt in 7 compartments, lettered in two, gilt turn-ins with grass motifs, silk doublures and endpapers, gilt edges, a few seed samples missing as usual

Sinclair became gardener to the 6th Duke of Bedford, a great agrarian reformer, in 1803. "On instructions from the Duke, and under the direction of Sir Humphry Davy, Sinclair conducted an extensive series of experiments on the nutritive qualities of various types of animal fodder. The results were published in 1816 in... an expensive folio volume containing dried specimens of the grasses. These were replaced by plates in cheaper editions published in 1825, 1826, and 1829" (ODNB). Copies vary in their make-up depending on wha🍃t specimens were available.

LITERATURE:

Nissen BBI 1850, citing 122 specimens; Stafleu TL2 12.022, citing 121 or 122