A Complete Dictionary of Practical Gardening: comprehending all the Modern Improvements in the Art; whether in the Raising of the Various Esculent Vegetables, or in the Forcing and Managing of different Sorts of Fruits and Plants, and that of Laying out, by MCDONALD. ALEXANDER [DICKSON, R. W.] - 1807

London: printed for George Kearsley by R. Taylor and Co, 1807. Contemporary tree calf. Very Good. 3 Volumes. 4to. Contemporary tree calf with scuffing and abrasion to leather on boards. Collation: Text divided into two volumes: Vol. 1 A-H; Vol. 2- J-Z with addition and Index. The text is unnumbered. Plates have been separated into third volume. The plates consist of 61 hand colored copper engravings numbered 1-60 with bis plate 10. There are an additional 13 uncolored plates of horticultural growing frames, greenhouses and single plate of garden tools. All plates have tissue guard. There is minor to moderate marginal foxing on the uncolored plates.

Dickson published this dictionary using the pseudonym of Alexander McDonald. The color plates have strong color and include several images per plate set in artistic manner. This is the first appearance of Edwards' plates which were subsequently re-issued in 1812 as The New Botanic Garden and The New Flora Britannica. This dictionary was published in two volumes. One of the owners of this set, William Kent or William Martin, had separated the plates from text to facilitate easier use and study. For example, it is much easier to compare the text details for a plant in the Dictionary with an image of same found in the plate book. Provenance: Book plate of William Kent in all volumes and signature of William Martin. There is a naval officer named William Kent who traveled to Australia and other islands bringing back to England on 22 December 1805 on the Buffaloa collection of birds and plants for Admiral Lord St. Vincent and Sir Joseph Banks. William Martin was a naturalist and actor who made numerous fossil collections in Derbyshire, publishing two books, the second, Petrificata Derbiensia, was dedicated to Banks. This work completed his earlier work on the Carboniferous limestone fossils which he illustrated with his own drawings.This is a most attractive and informative collection of flowering plants, greenhouses and garden tools with descriptions and use in the written text. The separation and collection of the plates into one volume makes it much easier for the reader to relate text to specific flower or image. (DeBelder 102; Nissen BBI 479; Sitwell & Blunt p.115)