Heirloom Fruits of America: Selections from the USDA Watercolor Pomological Collection
Heyday Books, 2020. Hardcover. New case wrapped hardcover. 8vo. (5.8 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches) Clean text free of marks or underlining. Color illustrations on heavy paper throughout the text. 128 pp.
Fast shipping in a secure book box mailer with tracking. New. Item #685
ISBN: 9781597145060
Heirloom Fruits of America features 100 full-color illustrations selected from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection, an archive of 7,584 paintings, lithographs, and line drawings created from 1886 to 1942 by about sixty-five commissioned artists. These images served as de facto trademarks in the highly competitive and fraud-plagued American fruit industry in a time before patent protection extended to living organisms. They are also meticulously and beautifully rendered, uncovering a cache of botanical diversity in turn-of-the-century American agriculture. Yale historian Daniel J. Kevles's introduction deepens viewers' appreciation of these plates by placing these images in their historical context.
Price: $21.95