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Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber

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Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty's Dominions by the English writer John Evelyn was first presented in 1662 as a paper to the Royal Society. It was published as a book two years later in 1664, and is recognised as one of the most influential texts on forestry ever published.[1]

Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty's Dominions
AuthorJohn Evelyn
SubjectForestry
Published1662 (1662) (as a paper)
1664 (1664) (as a book; by John Martyn)

Editions

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Opening from the Royal Society's copy of the 1664 1st book edition
  • 1662 Sylva paper was presented to the Royal Society on 16 February 1662.
  • 1664 Sylva First Edition book printed by publisher John Martyn for the Royal Society, and the first book published after the granting of their Royal Charter as publishers in 1662.[2]
  • 1670 Sylva Second Edition. Various engravings added.
  • 1679 Sylva Third Edition. Included an essay from Evelyn about soils: Terra, a Philosophical Essay of Earth, being a Lecture in Course.
  • 1706 Silva Fourth Edition, now spelt Silva, contained new sections Dendrologia, Pomona; Or, An Appendix concerning Fruit-Trees in relation to CIDER and Kalendarium Hortense. This was the last edition during Evelyn's lifetime.

Posthumous editions

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  • 1707 Silva edition.
  • 1729 Silva edition.

Five editions were edited by Alexander Hunter (1729-1809):

Recent reproductions

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  • A facsimile of the first edition (1664) was produced in 1972 by the publisher Scolar Press.
  • The fourth edition (1706) was republished in 1908 by Doubleday & Co. with a foreword by John Nisbet. This 1908 edition was republished in facsimile by Kessinger Publishing (30 Nov 2007).[3]
  • A new edition by Gabriel Hemery with illustrations by Sarah Simblet is published by Bloomsbury to coincide with the 350th anniversary in 2014 of the book's first publication. It is titled The New Sylva: a discourse of forest and orchard trees for the twenty-first century.[4] The authors have their own blog following the book's creation: sylva.org.uk

See also

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References

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  1. ^ John Evelyn, Sylva, Or A Discourse of Forest Trees ... with an Essay on the Life and Works of the Author by John Nisbet, Fourth Edition (1706), reprinted London: Doubleday & Co., 1908, V1, p. lxv; online edn, March 2007 [1], accessed 29 Dec 2012. This source (John Nisbet) states: "There can be no doubt that John Evelyn, both during his own lifetime and throughout the two centuries which have elapsed since his death in 1706, has exerted more individual influence, through his charming Sylva, ... than can be ascribed to any other individual." Nisbet adds that "Evelyn was by no means the first [author] who wrote on [forestry]. That honour belongs to Master Fitzherbert, whose Boke of Husbandrie was published in 1534" (V1, p. lxvi).
  2. ^ In 1662 the Society was permitted by Royal Charter to publish and the first two books it produced were John Evelyn's Sylva and Micrographia by Robert Hooke. [2]
  3. ^ John Evelyn, Sylva, Or A Discourse of Forest Trees, 2 vols., Fourth Edition (1706), reprinted London: Doubleday & Co., 1908, V1 pp. 452, V2 pp. 287. This 1908 edition was republished in facsimile by Kessinger Publishing (30 Nov 2007), ISBN 978-0-548-78350-4.
  4. ^ Bloomsbury Publishing http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-new-sylva-9781408835449
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