THE COMPLEAT GARD'NER, OR, DIRECTIONS FOR CULTIVATING AND RIGHT ORDERING OF FRUIT-GARDENS AND KITCHEN-GARDENS: WITH DIVERS REFLECTIONS ON SEVERAL PARTS OF HUSBANDRY, IN SIX BOOKS

London: Matthew Gillyflower & James Partridge, 1693. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Good/No Jacket. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. THE COMPLEAT GARD'NER, OR, DIRECTIONS FOR CULTIVATING AND RIGHT ORDERING OF FRUIT-GARDENS AND KITCHEN-GARDENS: WITH DIVERS REFLECTIONS ON SEVERAL PARTS OF HUSBANDRY, IN SIX BOOKS. By Jean de La Quintinie, translated by John Evelyn, printed for Matthew Gillyflower and James Partridge, published in London in 1693. This folio edition (31.5 cm x 19 cm) is the first English edition, bound in full leather with five raised bands to the spine. Copper engraved frontispiece of Jean de La Quintinie, with title page printed in red and black. Jean de La Quintinie (1626-1688) was a lawyer, gardener and agronomist who served France's King Louis XIV. On a trip to Italy he was impressed by the gardens he saw, and became fascinated by horticulture. There are 12 leaves of plates, two of which are fold-out. The first fold-out, opposite page 1 of volume I, is a map entitled "The King's Kitchen Garden at Versailles." The key to the map is charming and interesting: plots 1-4 are "Gardens design'd for strawberries", plots 5-8 are "Gardens slop'd, and situated for the benefit of the sun", plot 21 is "The Plum Garden, for all sorts of Plums, both Dwarfs, and Espaliers", at the corner at position 31 is "The House built by the King for my self." The several parts of the book are "Of Fruit-Gardens and Kitchen-Gardens", a "Treatise on the Graffs of Trees and of Nurseries", "Directions Concerning Melons", "Treatise of Orange-Trees", and "Reflections upon some Parts of Agriculture". The photographs provide a good sense of the condition. All plates and pages are present. The FFEP has both a small open tear and a larger closed tear. There is foxing and toning, mostly affecting beginning and ending pages. Hinges are starting. There are a few handwritten marginalia in an antique hand; a 1cm hole affecting text on p. 102; a 1cm open tear in the margin on p. 56; an open tear on the back endpaper; and tiny worming on pp. 51 and 56-58.