Ornamental Shrubs By Jirina Kaplicka & Jaroslav Hofman
Ornamental Shrubs (First English Edition)
A Beautifully Curated European Botanical Study Featuring Exquisite Mid-Century Watercolour Plates
A Beautifully Curated European Botanical Study Featuring Exquisite Mid-Century Watercolour Plates
Bibliographic Specifications
• Title: Ornamental Shrubs
• Author: Jaroslav Hofman (Translated from the original Czech by Joy Turner-Kadečková, Edited by Denis Hardwicke)
• Publisher: Spring Books / The Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd, London / Prague
• Publication Date: 1969
• ISBN-10: 0600028828
• ISBN-13: 9780600028826
• Edition Details: First English Edition, Standard Hardcover Release.
• Binding: Original publisher's premium white cloth-bound hardboards accented by a fine gilt-stamped floral design on the lower board and bright gilt spine typography, housed in an illustrated glossy dust jacket.
• Physical Format: Large Octavo / Slim Quarto (4to), 126–128 pages. Magnificently enhanced with 56 full-page, exquisite watercolour botanical plates by master artist Jiřina Kaplická, set directly opposite meticulously prepared text entries. Printed on premium textured heavy matte stock.
• Language: English
• Title: Ornamental Shrubs
• Author: Jaroslav Hofman (Translated from the original Czech by Joy Turner-Kadečková, Edited by Denis Hardwicke)
• Publisher: Spring Books / The Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd, London / Prague
• Publication Date: 1969
• ISBN-10: 0600028828
• ISBN-13: 9780600028826
• Edition Details: First English Edition, Standard Hardcover Release.
• Binding: Original publisher's premium white cloth-bound hardboards accented by a fine gilt-stamped floral design on the lower board and bright gilt spine typography, housed in an illustrated glossy dust jacket.
• Physical Format: Large Octavo / Slim Quarto (4to), 126–128 pages. Magnificently enhanced with 56 full-page, exquisite watercolour botanical plates by master artist Jiřina Kaplická, set directly opposite meticulously prepared text entries. Printed on premium textured heavy matte stock.
• Language: English
Official Condition Report
• The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
o Exterior / Boards: The original white cloth hardboards remain notably flat, clean, and rigid. Corner joints are solid and unbumped, showing only microscopic storage friction at the tips. The spine is perfectly square, vertically straight, and uncracked, maintaining its robust structural integrity.
o Interior: The textbook block is robustly bound, firm, and fully secure. Internal pages are flat, complete, and entirely free of user highlighting or margin notations. In strict alignment with its vintage production standards and organic mid-century paper stock, the pages display authentic, uniform age-tanning/browning across the text fields, giving it a classic antiquarian tone. Features a neat, crisp contemporary ownership inscription on the preliminary/first blank page, which serves as a charming mark of private collection provenance.
• The Dust Jacket: Very Good (VG)
o Condition Details: The original illustrated vintage dust jacket is exceptionally clean and vibrant, showcasing highly attractive surface reflectivity. It exhibits only very limited, superficial signs of edge-wear and faint shelf-rubbing along the spine ends and border tips. The entire jacket has been carefully encased inside a professional, removable clear cellophane archival jacket cover, effectively halting future environmental handling wear and preserving its vintage design assets beautifully.
• The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
o Exterior / Boards: The original white cloth hardboards remain notably flat, clean, and rigid. Corner joints are solid and unbumped, showing only microscopic storage friction at the tips. The spine is perfectly square, vertically straight, and uncracked, maintaining its robust structural integrity.
o Interior: The textbook block is robustly bound, firm, and fully secure. Internal pages are flat, complete, and entirely free of user highlighting or margin notations. In strict alignment with its vintage production standards and organic mid-century paper stock, the pages display authentic, uniform age-tanning/browning across the text fields, giving it a classic antiquarian tone. Features a neat, crisp contemporary ownership inscription on the preliminary/first blank page, which serves as a charming mark of private collection provenance.
• The Dust Jacket: Very Good (VG)
o Condition Details: The original illustrated vintage dust jacket is exceptionally clean and vibrant, showcasing highly attractive surface reflectivity. It exhibits only very limited, superficial signs of edge-wear and faint shelf-rubbing along the spine ends and border tips. The entire jacket has been carefully encased inside a professional, removable clear cellophane archival jacket cover, effectively halting future environmental handling wear and preserving its vintage design assets beautifully.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Originally compiled in Prague and translated for the English-speaking market in 1969 by Spring Books, Ornamental Shrubs stands as a breathtakingly beautiful fusion of mid-century European horticultural science and master botanical art. The core text features a large, expertly curated selection of some of the most highly decorative shrub varieties grown across Western and Central Europe.
Originally compiled in Prague and translated for the English-speaking market in 1969 by Spring Books, Ornamental Shrubs stands as a breathtakingly beautiful fusion of mid-century European horticultural science and master botanical art. The core text features a large, expertly curated selection of some of the most highly decorative shrub varieties grown across Western and Central Europe.
Horticultural authority Jaroslav Hofman delivers dense, methodical parameters for each species, outlining soil preferences, propagation secrets, maximum growth rates, and microclimate demands. What elevates this out-of-print classic into a highly prized collectible is its spectacular visual curation: it contains 56 magnificent, full-page watercolour plates executed by the world-renowned Czech botanical illustrator Jiřina Kaplická. Celebrated for their intense detail, tonal depth, and anatomical precision, Kaplická's paintings transform this reference manual into a timeless work of art. It remains a mandatory addition for serious botanical bibliophiles, landscape historians, and collectors of classic mid-century European natural history publishing.
Author Profile: Jirina Kaplicka & Jaroslav Hofman
Jiřina Kaplická (1901–1984) was an internationally acclaimed Czech painter, printmaker, and master botanical illustrator whose watercolour portfolios came to define the golden age of mid-century European natural history literature. Operating from Prague, her specialized illustrations achieved global fame for combining flawless scientific accuracy with soft, luminous artistic beauty. Jaroslav Hofman was a highly respected European silviculturist, research botanist, and academic writer who published numerous definitive texts outlining regional park management, landscape architecture, and cold-hardy flora variants. Collaborating on multiple landmark publications—including House Plants and Ziersträucher—their partnership combined advanced scientific documentation with elite fine art, leaving a lasting legacy that continues to be celebrated by international academic societies and antiquarian art collectors worldwide.
Jiřina Kaplická (1901–1984) was an internationally acclaimed Czech painter, printmaker, and master botanical illustrator whose watercolour portfolios came to define the golden age of mid-century European natural history literature. Operating from Prague, her specialized illustrations achieved global fame for combining flawless scientific accuracy with soft, luminous artistic beauty. Jaroslav Hofman was a highly respected European silviculturist, research botanist, and academic writer who published numerous definitive texts outlining regional park management, landscape architecture, and cold-hardy flora variants. Collaborating on multiple landmark publications—including House Plants and Ziersträucher—their partnership combined advanced scientific documentation with elite fine art, leaving a lasting legacy that continues to be celebrated by international academic societies and antiquarian art collectors worldwide.
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