The Gardeners Kalendar; Directing what Works are necessary to be performed Every Month In The Kitchen, Fruit, and Pleasure-Gardens, As also in the Conservatory and Nursery...

London: Printed for the Author; and sold by John Rivington, C.Hitch..., 1762. Thirteenth Edition. Miller was chief gardener and curator of the Apothecaries' (later Physic) Garden in Chelsea from 1722 until 1770, being appointed at the recommendation of Sir Hans Sloane, owner of the Manor of Chelsea, who had recently intervened to help the financially ailing Physic Garden. The Garden was required to annually present 50 dried specimens of its cultivated plants to the Royal Society, thereby leading Miller to constantly introduce new plants. This was largely achieved through the world-wide correspondence he conducted with leading horticulturalists of his day. According to the botanist Peter Collinson, who visited the garden in July 1764 Miller had "raised the reputation of the Chelsea Garden so much that it excels all the gardens of Europe for its amazing variety of plants of all orders and classes and from all climates..." (Allen Paterson, Philip Miller: A Portrait.). Miller was highly esteemed and admitted a member of the Botanical Academy of Florence, and of the Royal Society of London, in which he was occasionally honoured by being chosen of the council. Editions of the Kalendar were constantly updated with new information. Included here is a list of medicinal plants to be gathered in each month (first added in the 8th edition of 1748) and prefixed (first added in the 12th edition of 1760) is a short introduction to the science of botany illustrating the Linnean system. Henrey 1140. 8vo. pp. xv, [1], 47, 369, [11]index. hand-coloured engraved frontis. & 5 folding engraved plates (the first hand-coloured). woodcut ornaments & initials. contemporary sprinkled calf (extremities worn, joints partly cracked, darkish stain to covers, some light foxing). elala5620