Description
Author: Barnes, Parker T.
Publisher: Doubleday, Page & Company, New York
Date of Publication: 1909
Edition: First edition
Format: Hardcover
Series: The Garden Library
Illustrated: Illustrated with photographic plates
Printed: United States
Language: English
Condition
Book: Very Good — firm binding; clean interior; light, even age toning; no structural issues.
Exterior: Original green cloth boards with gilt lettering and decorative Garden Library device; mild edge wear and gentle rubbing consistent with age.
Interior markings: Early owner name (“L. B. Judson”) neatly written on front blank; no other markings.
Overall, a well-preserved example of an early 20th-century illustrated horticultural manual.
Description
House Plants and How to Grow Them by Parker T. Barnes is a classic early 20th-century guide to indoor gardening, published as part of Doubleday’s Garden Library series. Issued in 1909, the book reflects a period when houseplants were becoming an integral part of middle-class domestic life, blending practical instruction with an emerging aesthetic appreciation of interior greenery.
Barnes covers a wide range of topics including soil preparation, watering, light requirements, seasonal care, and the cultivation of popular houseplants of the era. The volume is illustrated with period photographic plates that document both plant varieties and domestic interiors, offering a valuable visual record of early indoor horticulture practices.
Today, the book is valued not only for its gardening content but also as a piece of domestic, social, and design history, appealing to collectors of antique gardening books, botany, and early household manuals. Copies in original cloth from this period are increasingly scarce, particularly those that remain clean and intact.
