FOUR HEDGES A Gardener's Chronicle.

First edition, first printing. Bound in contemporary full vellum by Leighton-Straker with gilt black morocco title label to the spine. Possibly a publisher's presentation binding. All edges gilt. Illustrated throughout with Clare Leighton's sumptuous black and white wood engravings depicting plants and country life. A very good copy, the binding square and firm with a little marking and dust-soiling to the vellum. The contents, with a little faint spotting to the preliminary pages and occasionally to page margins, are otherwise clean throughout and without stamps or inscriptions.

This beautiful book eloquently tells the story of a garden throughout the course of a year, beginning in April. Clare Leighton was a prolific, successful illustrator who expressed her love of nature and country life through her work during a period in which society was increasingly focussed on technological advancement and urbanisation. The first woman to produce a book about wood engraving, she became one of the most renowned practitioners of the art form. The binding of the present copy was executed by the firm of Leighton-Straker, the director of which was Robert Leighton, the author's father. An attractive copy in an unusual binding, with an appealing family association.