
          Early Hort. Lit

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Appendix B

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES CONSULTED, AND THEIR VALUE

The beginning of a comprehensive list of horticultural works was necessarily a
compilation, and without enumerating them all, it is important to know a few sources
that served as its nucleus.  There has never been a general bibliography of horticulture,
although there have been contributions, under language or sub-topic, on almost
every phase of the subject.  Some of the oldest works are listed among authorities in
old agricultural treatises.  Perhaps the first compilation of any considerable part of
the literature may have been in Rohr’s ’'Compendieuse Haushaltungs-Bibliothek" (1716),
but this was not available to me, and seems not to have been known to many competent
bibliographers of later date.  Following this, horticultural books were almost always
treated as botanical.  Seguier’s ’’Bibliotheca Botanica” (1740), is not only the first
comprehensive botanical bibliography, but one of the best of its kind ever published.
It divides the literature broadly into three groups: botany, materia medica, and agriculture, 
and the latter was the foundation for our list of horticultural books.

Seguier was supplemented for bibliographical details, and for publications of the
intervening century, by Pritzel’s "Thesaurus Literaturae Botanicae" (1851).  In the interim 
had appeared the bibliographical volume of  Münchhausen’s "Hausvater" (v. 2, 2 pts.,
1765-66); Haller’s "Bibliotheca Botanica" (2 v., 1771-72); Bohmer’s "Bibliotheca Scriptorum 
Historiae Naturalis" (Pt.3, "Phytologi", 1787), and other less valuable 
bibliographies
of botany, including horticulture.  Münchhausen, has not been searched for this list,
being entirely covered by Haller.  Bohmer’s section on horticultural works has many errors 
and confusions, and adds little to Haller.  But the latter, although it has plenty
of typographical and other errors, shows such wide acquaintance with literature, or at
least such remarkably discriminating knowledge of other bibliography and literary criticism, 
that it is an indispensable work.  Haller makes many shrewd queries and observations 
on critical points, and includes works that appear to have been known to nobody
else; hence his work has been searched page by page for data on works germane to this
list.  Of the many botanical bibliographies used, it may fairly be assumed that practically 
all could have been dispensed with, save only Seguier, Haller, and Pritzel, all
of which have been invaluable.
        