Pomology – the study of fruit, fruit growing and orchard management techniques – has resulted in some wonderfully informative and fascinating works of literature that are also truly beautiful works of art.
I’m Darren Turpin, an amateur pomologist, fruit grower, orchard geek and book nerd. For the past few years, I’ve researched various aspects of historical orchard lore, becoming well acquainted with various online archives and the digitised treasures within.
There are some absolute gems to be found, if you know where to look. Many date to the golden age of pomology in the nineteenth century. All of them reveal the immense talent and skill of the artists – often women and usually uncredited – whose incredible work brings their subjects to life. They also suggest that fruit growing was held in high regard by the wealthy households that could afford to add these costly volumes to their libraries.
Here are five of my favourites:
1. Twelve Months of Fruits (1732) – Robert Furber
Furber was an English nurseryman whose great innovation was to rise above the standard text-only catalogues of the day and issue a gloriously coloured series of prints. It displayed the cornucopia of luscious, ripe fruit available throughout the year, from his Kensington nursery business.
Sadly, there are no digitised copies of the catalogue to download, but via an image search you’ll find various versions of all twelve of these astonishing prints. Well worth a browse, especially the high-res images hosted on themorgan.org
2. Pomona Herefordiensis (1811) – Thomas Andrew Knight
Knight was an eminent botanist and horticulturist from Herefordshire. He bred various improved plant cultivars, including apples and pears, and was a founding member and the second president of the Horticultural Society of London (which later became the RHS).
His Pomona Herefordiensis is both a detailed catalogue and a rallying cry to encourage the growing of heritage varieties of cider apple and perry pear that, even in 1811, were considered to be in danger of dying out.
The delightfully colourful illustrations are by Elizabeth Matthews and the author’s daughter, Frances. View online or download at Archive.org
3. Pomona Britannica (1804-1812) – George Brookshaw
This extremely rare and highly valuable collection of prints (a copy sold at Christie’s for £65,300 in 1996) by cabinet-maker-turned-botanical-artist Brookshaw was inspired by the fruit trees he saw growing at Hampton Court Palace.
It was originally printed on large, folio-sized sheets, so sadly the text labels on each page are all-but illegible in modern reproductions, but it’s well worth browsing through the images just for the sheer joy of seeing them.
I love the elegance of the highly detailed, subtly shaded illustrations, set against a simple, plain background, which brings out the lustre and shine of each individual fruit.
View online at NYPL.org (A 2002 Taschen reprint edition occasionally turns up on eBay. Not all the interpreted image labels are accurate though).
4. The Pomological Magazine -Volumes 1-3 (1828-1830) – John Lindley
Lindley was one of the most famous botanists of his day and a leading light of the Horticultural Society of London. His monthly magazine was a pomona of fruit varieties “of sufficient importance to deserve cultivation in Great Britain”. It was reprinted as Pomologia Britannica in 1841.
Five of the superbly detailed, incredibly vivid, full colour illustrations in volume one are by C M Curtis, and all the rest are by Augusta Innes Withers who was appointed “Flower Painter in Ordinary” to Queen Adelaide and then Queen Victoria.
View online and download at Archive.org: Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3.
5. The Herefordshire Pomona (collected 1876) – Henry Graves Bull and Robert Hogg
Set against a plain background, the illustrations of fruit, blossom and leaf glow with inner warmth, and every detail is faithfully recorded, right down to the smallest blemish.
Commissioned by the Woolhope Naturalists Club, edited by Bull, and with technical editing by Hogg (who was the pre-eminent pomologist of the day), this work updated Knight’s Pomona Herefordiensis and attempted to breathe new life into Herefordshire’s ailing cider orchards.
The artists whose work graced this seven-part series were Alice Blanche Ellis and Edith Elizabeth Bull (Henry’s daughter), plus one contribution from Frances Stackhouse Acton.
View online at Archive.org: Volume 1, Volume 2.
For many more pomological sources, please see the full bibliography of print and ebooks that I’ve found (so far…)
by Darren Turpin
Darren is a gardener at National Trust Quarry Bank in Styal, Cheshire, where he specialises in fruit growing. In his spare time, he runs an allotment, grows top-fruit and soft fruit, and writes articles for his blog-website: orchardnotes.com.