On Modern Gardening

Title: On Modern Gardening

Author: Walpole, Horace

Publication: New York: Young Books, Inc., 1931.

Description: An essay on the history of gardening, with a preface and bibliographical note by W.S. Lewis. One of 325 copies printed at the Walpole Printing Office. Four black-and-white illustrations of gardens. Hand-colored portrait and headpiece. Bound in quarter tan cloth with marbled paper over boards and a printed paper label on the spine, in a slipcase covered with tan paper. 7.75 x 5.5 inches; [4], x, 80, [2], [4] pages (first two leaves and last leaf blank). With the monogram bookplate of philanthropist Annie Burr Jennings. Slight lean to the spine, very mild spotting to the rear pastedown, and significant spotting to the slipcase. Very Good+ in a Good only slipcase. "On Modern Gardening" first appeared in 1780 in "Anecdotes of Painting in England." Annie Burr Jennings, the previous owner of this copy, was a wealthy philanthropist known as the "First Lady of Fairfield" due to her philanthropy in the Connecticut town. Her family had made its fortune by investing in Standard Oil. In addition to being a key benefactor of the Fairfield Public Library and Fairfield Historical Society, she donated land for the Audubon Society and Jennings Beach in Fairfield. She served as a delegate to the convention which ratified the repeal of Prohibition. She was an avid gardener, designing the gardens on her large estate. She remained single throughout her life, enjoying the significant independence that her wealth afforded her.