32 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Turning first to the botany of the Rose, in addition to Herrmann 

 already mentioned, some eminent names during the period under 

 review are Afzelius, De Candolle, De Pronville, Dumont de 

 Courset, Ehrhart, Jussieu, Leman, Rau, Selbstherr, Sir James 

 Smith, Thory, Tratinnick, Wallroth, Woods, and of course 

 Linnaeus; but it was especially Dr. John Lindley who sifted and 

 crystallized the efforts of his predecessors and contemporaries to give 

 us the result of his labours in his imperishable Rosarum Monographia, 

 published in 1820, a work which will remain for all time a standard 

 authority on the botany of the Rose. The tangled mass of species 

 and varieties that had arisen during the preceding century or longer 

 are here reduced to their true proportions, and their sequence and 

 relations to one another are rendered intelligible to the most casual 

 student of the genus. 



Whilst the botany of the Rose was thus engaging so much attention, 

 its value as a garden flower was by no means neglected, and several 

 important works devoted to illustrating in colour the different species 

 and varieties from the standpoint of their beauty as decorative 

 objects in the garden appeared. Of these the first in date of appearance 

 was the work of Miss Lawrance entitled A Collection of Roses from 

 Nature, consisting of representations of ninety different kinds of 

 garden Roses painted between the years 1796 and 1799, and published 

 in London in the latter year. Both the drawing and colouring of the 

 flowers are excellent, and the delicacy and vividness of their tints 

 remain unimpaired in all the copies of the book that I have seen. 

 Exception has been taken to the botanical accuracy of the foliage in 

 some of the plates by reason of too great uniformity in the drawing 

 and colouring, but taken as a whole the work is one of great magni- 

 ficence and compels our admiration on its merits as well as our 

 gratitude, if only on account of its having, partly at least, inspired 

 Redoute to undertake his larger work. Miss Lawrance's book has 

 become scarce and commands a high price ; it is usually found in small 

 folio size, although copies on larger paper are in existence ; the plates 

 are preceded by a handsome frontispiece depicting a wreath or garland 

 of Roses of various colours and a dedication to the Queen ; the text 

 is insignificant, consisting only of four pages of botanical arrangement, 

 which now have little value, at the end of the book. 



Following Miss Lawrance's illustrations at a short interval as 

 regards time, but at a great distance in respect to the beauty of the 

 drawings, came Dr. Rossig's Die Rosen, published in parts at Leipsic 

 in the year 1802 and onwards. The author's intention appears to 

 have been to illustrate 100 or more varieties of garden Roses, but 

 after the appearance of the fiftieth plate the work stopped, to be 

 continued later by another hand, but the continuation extended only 

 to ten more plates, making sixty in all. A short description in German 

 and French accompanies each plate, and there is also an introduction 

 in both languages, in which Miss Lawrance's work is freely criticized. 

 Rossig's Rosen is of bibliographical interest as furnishing a link in 



