Gardening Books in Early America - Owned by Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), Pennsylvania printer, author, inventor, ambassador, scientist, statesman, abolitionist. Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, a founder of the Library Company of Philadelphia and of the first fire department in Pennsylvania, among many other accomplishments.

Benjamin Franklin by David Martin (Scot artist, 1737-1797)  1766

Franklin's extensive library is documented in Edwin Wolf 2nd and Kevin J. Hayes, The Library of Benjamin Franklin. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society and Library Company of Philadelphia, 2006. 

Title: An heroic epistle to Sir William Chambers, knight ... author of a late Dissertation on oriental gardening. Enriched with explanatory notes, chiefly extracted from that elaborate performance
Author: William Mason
Info: London, J. Almon, 1773. 11th ed.

Title: The gardeners dictionary. Containing, the methods of cultivating and improving the kitchen, fruit and flower garden, as also, the physick garden, wilderness, conservatory, and vineyard; according to the practice of the most experienced gardeners of the present age
Author: Philip Miller

Title: A treatise on cyder-making, founded on long practice and experience; with a catalogue of cyder-apples of character, in Herefordshire and Devonshire, their different qualities and applications in making either mellow or rough cyder; and the whole process of cyder-making throughout. With instructions for meliorating cyder, preservatives, and remedies for preventing and curing the diseases incident to cyder. To which is prefixed, A dissertation on cyder and cyder-fruit
Author: Hugh Stafford
Info: London, E. Cave, 1753.

Title: Stowe, the gardens of the Right Honourable Richard Lord Viscount Cobham : address'd to Mr. Pope
Author: Gilbert West
Info: London : Printed for W. Russel, 1756.

Title: The universal gardener and botanist or, a general dictionary of gardening and botany. Exhibiting in botanical arrangement, according to the Linnæan system, every tree, shrub, and herbaceous plant
Author: John Abercrombie
Other authors: Thomas Mawe (Contributor)
Info: London : printed for G. Robinson; and T. Cadell, 1778.

Title: A new and complete system of practical husbandry containing all that experience has proved to be most useful in farming, either in the old or new method; with a comparative view of both; and whatever is beneficial to the husbandman, or conducive to the ornament and improvement of the country gentleman's estate
Author: John Mills
Info: London : printed for R. Baldwin, W. Johnston, S. Crowder, T. Longman, J. Coote [and 3 others in London], 1762-65.

Title: The complete English farmer, or a practical system of husbandry founded upon natural, certain, and obvious principles : in which is comprized a general view of the whole art of agriculture, exhibiting the different effects of cultivating land according to the usage of the old and new husbandry 
Author: David Henry
Info: London : printed for F. Newberry, 1771.

Title: The farmer's director or, a compendium of English husbandry. Concisely describing the management of land, and cultivating the several kinds of corn and pulse. Of grasses and plants for the food of cattle, and their several feeding qualities. Of meadows and pastures, and a new system of applying the grass-lands of a farm. With various improvements interspersed through the work. Also an appendix. Containing general observations and directions on various subjects of husbandry. 
Author: Thomas Bowden
Info: London : printed for Richardson and Urquhart, at the Royal Exchange, MDCCLXXVI. [1776]

Title:  Hortus botanicus vindobonensis, seu Plantarum rariorum, quae in Horto botanico vindobonensi ... coluntur, icones coloratæ et succinetæ descriptiones 
Author: Freiherr Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin 

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Plants in Early American Gardens - Sweet Basil

Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum)

Sweet Basil, native to Europe, is used fresh or dried as an aromatic culinary seasoning. It was common in America by the late 1700s, and Thomas Jefferson requested a supply of this pot-herb from his neighbor George Divers in 1820.

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Gardening Books in Early America - Owned by John Adams 1735-1826

John Adams (1735-1826), Massachusetts lawyer, diplomat, and statesman. Defender of the British soldiers tried after the Boston Massacre, delegate to the first and second Continental Congresses, signer of the Declaration of Independence, ambassador to the Netherlands and to England, drafter of the Massachusetts Constitution, first vice president and second president of the United States of America.

John Adams by John Trumbull (detail), 1793.

"I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine." - 12 May 1780

Most extant books from John Adams's library are currently housed at the Boston Public Library.  Deposited with the Boston Public Library in 1894, the John Adams Library includes over 2,700 volumes collected by the second president during his lifetime (1735-1826) as well as hundreds of additional books later donated by his family members (NB: Books printed after Adams’s death and added to the collection posthumously are not included in Adams's LT catalog). The first published list of Adams's complete deeded library was printed in 1823 in Deeds and other Documents Relating to the Several Pieces of Land, and to the Library Presented to the Town of Quincy by President Adams. This catalog included all volumes bequeathed by Adams in 1822, listing his total gift at 2,756 volumes.

One of the greatest private collections of its day, the Adams Library remains one of the largest original early American libraries still intact. This remarkable original collection of 3,510 books spans the fields of classics, literature, history, politics, government, philosophy, religion, law, science, mathematics, medicine, agriculture, language and linguistics, economics, and travel.

John Adams Books on Landscape, Garden, and Farm

The British fruit-gardener : and art of pruning : comprising, the most approved methods of planting and raising ...

Address of Jonathan Allen, Esq. president of the Berkshire Agricultural Society : delivered before the Berkshire ... John Adams Library copy inscribed on t.p.: 'His Esq. John Adams Quincy Mass.'

An essay on the natural history of Guiana, in South America : containing a description of many curious productions ...

General view of the agriculture in the county of Somerset : with observations on the means of its ...

Essays and notes on husbandry and rural affairs Agriculture,  8vo (Listed in Deeds as "Essays and Notes on Husbandry and Rural Affairs, by Bordley." )

The American museum, or Universal magazine : containing essays on agriculture, commerce, manufactures, politics, ... 8vo Vols 12

Advice to shepherds and owners of flocks, on the care and management of sheep : ... Agriculture, English, 8vo Bookplate on inside back cover: Th: Bradlee, 2d. Book binder, no. 7, Congress Street, Boston.

General view of the agriculture of the county of Northampton : with observations on the means of its improvement

A practical treatise of husbandry : wherein are contained, many useful and valuable experiments and observations ...

Communications to the Board of Agriculture : on subjects relative to the husbandry, and internal improvements ...

A treatise of fruit-trees  John Adams' signature on title page: "John Adams."

Additional appendix to the outlines of the fifteenth chapter of the proposed general report from the Board of ... Agriculture  Comprises six numbered reports, by George Fordyce, William Cullen, John Ingen-Housz, James Headrick, Dr. Guthrie and Richard Crawshay.

 A system of vegetables : according to their classes, orders, genera, species, with their characters and differences  8vo Includes: 'An alphabetical catalogue of English and Scotch names of plants' with a separate t.p. dated 1784

The 'botanical society at Lichfield' consisted of 3 members only: Erasmus Darwin, Brooke (later Sir Brooke) Boothby, and John Jackson"

The gardeners kalendar : directing what works are necessary to be performed every month in the kitchen, fruit, and ... 8vo John Adams' signature on title page: "John Adams."

Observations on the different breeds of sheep and the state of sheep farming in the southern districts of Scotland

The experienced farmer : an entire new work, in which the whole system of agriculture, husbandry, and breeding of ...8vo Inscribed on pasted-in plate on inside front cover:

Natural history of the slug worm Inscribed on preliminary leaf: "Adams Library 1799 ..." Vols 1 & 2

General view of the agriculture of the county of Stafford : with observations on the means of its improvement  4to

Arator : being a series of agricultural essays, practical & political: in sixty-one numbers  John Adams' signature (blotted) on title page: "J. Adams."

 Horse-hoeing husbandry : or, An essay on the principles of vegetation and tillage. Designed to introduce a new method .. 8vo John Adams' signature on title page: "John Adams." Inscribed on first leaf: "85/"

Social Info General view of the agriculture in the county of Essex : with observations on the means of its improvement  8vo

Letters from His Excellency George Washington, president of the United States of America, to Sir John Sinclair, ... Inscribed on half t.p.: “For his Excellency John Adams- President of the United States of America with Sir John Sinclar’s compliments and as a mark of his esteem and regard. 5 June 1800.”

The American gazetteer : exhibiting, in alphabetical order, a much more full and accurate account, ...… by Jedidiah Morse   "Read chiefly in the merican Gazeteers, which are a very valuable Magazine of american Knowledge." (Adams' Diary, 10 November 1766)

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Early Scarlet Globe Radish

Early Scarlet Globe Radish (Raphanus sativus cv.)

Radishes, like lettuces, were regularly grown in the Monticello vegetable garden for use in salads. The two crops were often sown together beginning in early March. Jefferson preferred the scarlet radish, although his garden also included salmon, rose, violet, and white types. The Early Scarlet Globe Radish is a 19th-century variety noted for its bright scarlet skin, crisp white flesh, and mild flavor.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - White Eggplant

White Eggplant (Solanum melongena)

White Eggplant was listed along with a purple variety in several eastern United States seed catalogues by 1825 and Thomas Jefferson was growing both types at Monticello as early as 1812. Also known as melongena, eggplant originated in Asia, where it has been grown for centuries. White Eggplant yields delicious, egg-shaped fruits up to 6 inches long.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello