Francis, George William / [Provenance: Good, James (MRCSC in London) / Curtis, James (Cork)].

The Grammar of Botany ; Explaining the Structure, Form, Classification, Uses and Geographical Distribution of Plants, Illustrated by Poetry, Anecdotes, Popular Remarks and Three Hundred Wood Engravings.

Secoond Edition. London, Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1848. Small Octavo. 160 pages. Original, publisher’s cloth with gilt lettering and ornament on spine. Names of two preowners in ink. The binding firm. The whole publication a bit dusty but interior very good and bright . An extremely important and very rare botanical publication of the later first Director of Adelaide Botanical Garden who emigrated to Australia just a year after its second edition was published.

George William Francis (1800–9 August 1865) was an English horticulturalist and science writer. He migrated to the colony of South Australia in 1849 and became the first director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden in 1860.

Born in London, Francis emigrated to Australia for improved prospects of supporting his family; he arrived in the Louisa Baillie on 2 September 1849. Shortly he took over the old botanical garden of Adelaide, north of the Torrens River, as a tenant. He was then appointed director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden, a position he held for the rest of his life.
Francis died of dropsy on 9 August 1865 and was buried the next day, leaving a widow and ten children.

Francis established much of the garden and pagoda in the first botanical museum in Adelaide, the Adelaide Botanic Garden. Hakea francisiana, an Australian shrub that grows to 4 metres (13 ft), is named after him. (Wikipedia)

• Keywords: Adelaide · Australia · Botany – Rare · Garden History
• Inventory Number: 31762AB

EUR 1.280,--