The Botanist's Companion, or a Introduction to the Knowledge of Practical Botany by SALISBURY, William. [of the Botanic Garden, Sloane-Street] - 1816

Longman, Hurst, 1816. Hard Cover. Very Good. SALISBURY, William. [of the Botanic Garden, Sloane-Street]. The Botanist's Companion, or a Introduction to the Knowledge of Practical Botany. Two volumes in one. vii, [3], 67, [1], [168]pp; (6) + 211 + (1)pp., large multi-folding plan of the Botanic Garden. A good copy in later 19th century dark green pebble grain cloth, gilt lettered spine. Some foxing throughout, and marginal pencil notes (mainly reference letters) by an early owner. Scarce. 8vo. Longman, Hurst... 1816 ~ William Salisbury, (d. 1823/1829), nurseryman and botanist. Very little is known of his early life. In his Botanist's Companion he states that from 1791 he was employed by the board of agriculture in conducting experiments on the growth of plants. Before then he may have been engaged as a nurseryman. In 1797 he was gardener to J. Symmons FRS at Paddington House, Paddington, and in the same year entered into partnership with nurseryman William Curtis (1746-1799) at his garden at Queen's Elm, Brompton. After Curtis's death he moved the garden to Cadogan Place, Sloane Street, where he held botanical classes. It is not clear whether he died in 1823, or in 1829, when David Ramsay acquired the Sloane Street nursery. In addition to the Botanist's Companion, Salisbury published a number of other horticultural works. They included: Hortus Paddingtonensis: a catalogue of the plants in the garden of J. Symmons, Esq., Paddington House (1797); A General Catalogue of Trees, Shrubs, Flowers, etc., Cultivated in England [n.d.]; Hints to Proprietors of Orchards [with] the Natural History of American Blight (1816); and The Cottager's Companion, or, A Complete System of Cottage Horticulture (1817).