Ornamental Shrubs And Trees For Gardens In Southern Africa By Una Van Der Spuy
Ornamental Shrubs And Trees For Gardens In Southern Africa (Collectible Cellophane-Protected Hardcover Edition)
A Pioneering Mid-Century Masterwork on the Cultivation, Selection, and Artistic Grouping of Regional Flora
A Pioneering Mid-Century Masterwork on the Cultivation, Selection, and Artistic Grouping of Regional Flora
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Ornamental Shrubs And Trees For Gardens In Southern Africa
- Author: Una van der Spuy
- Publisher: Juta & Company Ltd., Cape Town and Johannesburg
- Publication Date: 1957
- ISBN-10: None (Pre-ISBN Era)
- Edition Details: Presumed First Edition. A highly significant early career milestone volume by South Africa's foremost horticultural pioneer, complete with period owner provenance markers.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium full-cloth boards, structurally firm with crisp lettering across the spine face.
- Physical Format: Quarto (4to), 288 pages. Generously supplemented with 180 excellent black-and-white illustrations of diverse shrubs, trees, and climbers, alongside beautiful half-tone and vivid full-colour plates.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior Boards: The original publisher's full-cloth hardboards are straight, square, and structurally sound. The spine remains completely firm, uncrushed, and undamaged. True to a genuine mid-century volume, the inner boards show old archival tape residue marks from a past protective wrapper, a standard and endearing trait of carefully preserved vintage books.
- Interior: The structural text block binding is excellent and tight. The internal pages, color plates, and half-tone sections are clean, crisp, and fully intact, displaying a natural, uniform age-tanning that complements its vintage character. Free from modern ink highlighting or text scoring. Neatly penned historical notes or previous owner names are present on the preliminary opening leaves, adding a lovely touch of personal provenance.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good (VG)
- Condition & Integrity: The original illustrated mid-century dust jacket is present. It exhibits limited, age-appropriate signs of shelf wear, small handling chips, and minor edge tears (accurately detailed in the accompanying product photographs). The vintage jacket has been expertly stabilized and is now beautifully preserved under a high-grade archival cellophane protective cover sleeve.
Synopsis & Historical Value
First released to widespread acclaim by Juta & Company in 1957, Ornamental Shrubs And Trees For Gardens In Southern Africa stands as an extraordinary historical milestone in Southern African botanical literature. Written as an explicit, authoritative, and deeply practical handbook, it became the definitive blueprint for transforming both expansive estate landscapes and modest urban gardens across the subcontinent.
The work bridges the gap between scientific forestry and aesthetic design. Van der Spuy provides clear, comprehensive instructions on the ideal soil profiles, spacing, pruning intervals, and grouping patterns required to maximize the visual impact of regional trees, shrubs, and climbing vines. Showcasing 180 excellent black-and-white illustrations alongside gorgeous half-tone and color plates, this rare 1957 manual remains a timeless reference tool for identifying historical plant variants, mapping out classic garden boundaries, and collecting early South African botanical ephemera.
Author Profile: Una van der Spuy
Una van der Spuy (1912–2012) was the undisputed doyenne of South African gardening literature, a celebrated environmentalist, and a prolific author of no fewer than ten seminal horticultural books. Operating from her historic, world-renowned Old Nectar estate in Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch—which was declared a National Monument under her stewardship—she dedicated over half a century to studying, designing, and popularising local garden arts. This scarce 1957 volume represents one of her earliest and most impactful published works, establishing the logical, clear prose style that stripped the academic stiffness from landscape design and made her text blocks timeless assets for private collectors and landscaping professionals alike.
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