Le bon jardinier
[between 1765 and 1770?]
Librairie agricole de la Maison rustique
This charming and whimsical title page adds a splash of vibrant, flirtatiously bright color to an otherwise primarily technique-oriented book dedicated to outdoor pursuits such as the cultivation of gardens and maintaining beautiful flowers. Are those tomatoes? Are those fruits or flowers? Who cares, they’re adorable! – and attest to the pleasure of decoration. Small imperfections such as off-set coloring and uneven thickness of ink serve to remind the reader that this decoration was done by hand, without the use of more precise machinery. Although this tiny, pocket-sized book was likely far less costly than the other books displayed here, there was nonetheless a desire to enhance the text with this decidedly unnecessary yet quite pleasing element.
Publisher
Librairie agricole de la Maison rustique
Date
[between 1765 and 1770?]
Description
This charming and whimsical title page adds a splash of vibrant, flirtatiously bright color to an otherwise primarily technique-oriented book dedicated to outdoor pursuits such as the cultivation of gardens and maintaining beautiful flowers. Are those tomatoes? Are those fruits or flowers? Who cares, they’re adorable! – and attest to the pleasure of decoration. Small imperfections such as off-set coloring and uneven thickness of ink serve to remind the reader that this decoration was done by hand, without the use of more precise machinery. Although this tiny, pocket-sized book was likely far less costly than the other books displayed here, there was nonetheless a desire to enhance the text with this decidedly unnecessary yet quite pleasing element.
Source
Morris Wachs Collection, W.T. Bandy Center, SB7 .B6 1760
Citation
“Le bon jardinier,” Gallery, accessed July 7, 2022, https://gallery.library.vanderbilt.edu/items/show/1459.