My winter pastime is to sort and dispose of some of my many gardening books. My collection has grown even more  invasive than the worst weeds and it is time hoe them out. Charity shops will be beneficiaries as will our local gardening club but the recycling industry will get 500 or so books. I thought of composting but I will leave that to the landfill which still contains all those old telephone directories.

Bearing in mind my local heritage and garden location one book that is worth a mention is ‘The Flora of West Yorkshire’ by Frederic Arnold Lees (1847-1921). My copy is a professional 1978 facsimile of the first edition of 1888.

Interesting Facts

• Lees was Leeds born and schooled and became a member of The Royal Colleges of Surgeons and Physicians
• He also Presided over the botanical section of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union and was recorder for the Botanical Record Club
• Frederic collected plant material for Leeds medical school and his book collection of 535 items is retained by Bradford reference library.
• The book contains 2.000 references in a comprehensive index and starts with information on Climatology and  Lithology as it pertains to botany. This shows how weather and under lying rock and soil structure influences the species that thrive in various conditions
• Observations – Victorians and Edwardians took great care to study the natural world and invest time and energy in study. This work helped classify the wild  flora discovered in West Yorkshire in that era.