The Child's Botany

Goodrich, S.G. (attributed)

Published by S.G. (Samuel Griswold) Goodrich, Boston, 1828

About this Item

In green buckram, probably a rebind. Both front and rear free endpapers have been excised and discarded, as has another preliminary page -- presumably the half-title -- so the book now opens to the title page. Book counts 115 pp. (including the "Catalog of Some of the Most Common Exotic and Indigenous Plants in New England" at rear) plus the final one-page publisher's ad, as called for, though we count only five B&W plates, while the copy in the Morgan Library reports six, so it's possible there was a frontispiece, now missing. Attributed to Samuel G. Goodrich (1793-1860, better known under the pseudonym Peter Parley) in the National Union Catalog, but not included in the list of his works in his "Recollections of a Lifetime" (New York, 1856) v.2, p. 537-543. Instead, the title appears in "Recollections" among the names of works by other authors published by Goodrich (v.2, p. 256). Includes questions for study. Pp. 108-115 comprise ''A catalogue of some of the most common exotic and indigenous plants in New England." An ancient piece of transparent (though now browned) tape has been laid along the gutter at the final advertising page, reason unknown, since this page does not appear to have been loose. The copy in the Morgan Library is bound in 1/4 blue leather over blue cloth boards, though of course there's no reason to believe that binding is original. Reprints from the 1830s are somewhat more common. As usual, the material considered suitable for American children in the era of Jackson -- the parts of the flower including the calix, the corol, the pistil and the pericarp; the 24 classes of Linnaeus including the Dodecandria, the Monaecia and the Crypotogamia, etc. -- would likely stun most of today's government "educators." Reduced from $400. Seller Inventory # 007311

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Child's Botany

Publisher: S.G. (Samuel Griswold) Goodrich, Boston

Publication Date: 1828

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fair

Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket

Edition: 1st Edition