Philip Miller Astragalus alopecuroides, Fox-tail Milk Vetch engraving c1794.

by Miller, Philip

Rare 18th century P.Miller botanical engraving J. Whatman watermarked paper.

Beautiful and rare original 18th century hand-coloured copperplate engraving for Philip Miller’s Gardener’s Dictionary, a superb folio-size work, first published in 1731, and translated, copied, abridged, and republished eight times during Miller's lifetime.

Philip Miller, F.R.S. (1691-1771) was the son of a Deptford nurseryman of Scottish descent, who ensured his son had a good education. He travelled extensively through England, Flanders and Holland, studying horticulture, gardening and agriculture. He established his own nursery in Southwark in Southwark until he succeeded his father as 'gardener to the company of apothecaries of Chelsea'. From 1722 to 1771 Philip Miller was Foreman at the Chelsea Physic Garden, which had been set up in 1673 by the Society of Apothecaries of London.

Greatly skilled in the cultivation of plants, during his time at Chelsea, Philip transformed this private garden of medicinal plants into the greatest botanical garden in Europe. Philip Miller was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for his knowledge of living plants which was unequalled during his lifetime.

Size of page 41 x 26cm (16 x 10 inches).