This stunning little edition of In-door Plants and How to Grow Them was published by Smith, Elder and Co in 1861. It is a first edition and was written by Elizabeth Anne Maling. She was the author of almost a dozen books on home gardening, flower arranging, and birdkeeping, as well as novels.
The book is bound in green pebbled cloth with stunning gold gilt decoration to the front cover. It's in good condition for it's age, but the corners are lightly worn and crushed, with some minor fraying to the back corners. The cover shows some minor marks and rubbing and there is faint darkening to the spine. The spine ends are crushed.
Inside, there is slight cracking to the hinges and creasing to the pages. The pages show age toning and sporadic foxing, and the tissue guard for the frontispiece is tanned and lightly creased.
The frontispiece is a hand-coloured lithograph by Noel Humphreys. This is the only illustration in the book.
Dimensions approximately 17cm x 11cm x 1.2cm.
The book will arrive hand wrapped in patterned wallpaper and ribbon.
I use a range of eco friendly, 100% recyclable jiffy bags and boxes, and whenever possible I use brown paper tape. The green bubble wrap is biodegradable and the clear bubble wrap is 100% recyclable. I also reuse boxes when I feel it's appropriate (if the boxes are sturdy enough).