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ROSE, GRAHAM & KING, PETER: : THE LOVE OF ROSES: From Myth to Modern Culture

LONDON.QUILLER PRESS LTD.,1990.

ISBN 1870948416

UK,Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn but price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp, clean,glossy laminated,colour reproduced illustration to front panel of dw/dj,rear panel with colour photograph of single rose bloom, illustrated dw/dj with white lettering to front and spine/backstrip; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top edges with minimal,faint, sporadic dust-soiling,fore-edges bright and clean without foxing/spotting or thumbing; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners, appears unread - apart from my own collation.Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original plain sage green cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip,and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn,5- 224pp [paginated] includes contents list/table, Chapter I introduction by D. J. Squire,XIII(13) chapters - each with an individual colour photographic rose illustrated title separator page,profuse other b/w+colour historical illustrations reproductions and contemporary colour photographs all interspersed throughout the text and the book,acknowledgements,and an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title page with colour illustrated frntis to its reverse,and title page with dedication to reverse. No flower has achieved such popularity through the ages as the rose - yet little was really known about its origins and development until this century (then 1990). A thousand myths have flourished and gardening correspondent Graham Rose and historian Peter King have undertaken the major task of disentangling truth from fiction. This sumptuously illustrated work,an inspiration and reference for all rose lovers, goes back to original sources.It enquires where the rose came from and why it became a symbol for love and a name for women; it tells the story of its adoption for religious rites,and of the men and women who helped endow this originally simple flower with the romantic power it enjoys today. Writers,artists,sculptors and musicians have adapted the rose for their own purposes.Some, like Redoute,lived at an historical moment when,with the support of the Empress Josephine, the rose was moving into a new era of popularity.Others revived the rose as a symbol of death or sexual decay: the book explores the motivation for their new directions. Cultural history is interwoven with the botanical reality.The roses which the artists adopted as models are described and illustrated in detail; the reasons for the rise and fall of certain species are explained.The rose has also had its more practical uses through the ages - as food,drink,perfume,medicine.Again this book goes back to original sources to demonstrate why the Greeks,the Romans and early churchmen chose the rose for their curious purposes.It also describes the motivation and skills of the growers and the breeders who turned the rose from a simple flower to a giant commercial venture. Most rose books are divided into history followed by description.This is the first book to weave the two together,to highlight the flower against a backdrop of human achievement and to answer the intriguing question: why is the rose romantic? Please contact seller,because of the weight/ value of this item for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.

UK,Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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